The Hope
by Leojldancer
Summary: One second you think your life is perfect, the next it is falling apart in front of your eyes.... only those closest to you can save you from the hardships and share your happiness.... but who to trust.
1. It's all my fault

A/N Hey everybody, I know that I have not updated in about a month but I have been working on a really long 50th chapter but I have had a really bad case of writers block. I was looking at my story one day and realized that some of the chapters were so short that they shouldn't even be considered chapters. So I took the story and made the chapters longer. None of the story is gone; it is just condensed into a shorter number of chapters. I should have the next chapter up in about a week, I hope. I am going to try and make each chapter a little longer than the others were. You all rock, thanks for every review I cherish them all.

Miley stood out on the cliff and looked down into the swirling water below her, the wind whipped her hair in to her face and her skirt danced around her, threatening to fly skyward, she slowly turned around and faced Oliver who was sitting on a bench. She stepped off the rocks that lined the edge and walked toward him, the soft green grass swirl between her bare toes. She stood in front of him and watched as his eyes started to water from the chill in the evening air. But she knew there was more to the tears. Miley sat down and nudged him, wanting to break the silence.

"Why did this happen?" his voice was shaking

"I don't know Oliver, I really don't know" Miley's voice quavered, but stayed strong.

"Miley? Oliver?" The voice loomed from the gathering fog, "If you want to see Lilly again before closing time you need to come now."

Miley slipped her sneakers back on to her feet and took her socks in her hand before standing up. She looked in to Oliver's continually tearing eyes and she took his hand as to say everything is going to be alright, she pulled him up before leading the way through the woods.

They walked through the tall trees together toward the looming silver building. The windows were all in long lines like somber soldiers waiting to go to battle. Miley held the door open for Oliver as they entered. The silence was unbearable to Miley and she wished she could breakdown in tears but she knew that that would make Oliver even worse so she tried her best to stay strong.

They came to the door and gave each other the strength to walk through it.

Inside was a dimly light room with a table and chairs that sat across from the small hospital bed. On the bed lay Lilly, sound asleep.

Miley walked over to the set of chairs were Lilly's mom sat with her head in her hands. Her mom looked up and stared into Miley's eyes, her own eyes were blood shot and damp.

"What..." Miley stammered to find the right question, "What really happened to her Mrs. Truscott, I need to know," Miley took Oliver's hand, "We need to know."

"Well, she was at home by herself and she apparently decided to go to your house, something about Hannah Montana tickets, I don't remember. Anyway, she ran down the front lawn and across the street, after about 20 min I heard a screech of tires outside and I just figured someone almost hit a cat. But then I heard sirens so I get up to find out what had happened when from the window I saw Lilly laying in the road and a couple of EMT's standing around her." Mrs. Truscott barely made out the word through her increasing sobs.

Miley dropped to her knees and put her head in her hands, "It's all my fault, she wanted to come with me but I said she couldn't, then she just ran out" Miley finally broke down and the tears started flowing.

"She wanted to come with you where, Miley?" Mrs. Truscott asked

Oliver covered for Miley "Miley finally got tickets to the Hannah Montana concert but she only got 2 and her dad said that he had to go, so there were no ticket for Lilly but Miley did not want Lilly to know that so she just said Lilly could not go."

Mrs. Truscott looked to Miley's dad for a conformation, he nodded and she turned back towards where Miley and Oliver were standing tears silently streaming down her pale face.

Oliver tugged on Miley's arm until she allowed him to lead her out of the room, he sat her down on the bench.

"Miles, it's not your fault, you had no idea that car was going to come out of nowhere, nor did you know that Lilly was going to take that way home." Oliver's comforting words did nothing to calm Miley's wracking sobs.

Robbie came out of the hospital room, closing the door quietly and sat down on the bench next to Miley. He put his arm around her and hugged her tightly.

"Miley, Lilly's going to be alright, it's just a couple broken ribs and slight concussion, nothing serious." Robbie looked in to Miley's eyes as he spoke.

"Alright Daddy" Miley whispered.

"Oliver why don't you and Miley go home and I'll be there in a minute." said Robbie.

Oliver put his arm around Miley and started to lead her home. As he got up his eyes connected with Robbie's and Oliver knew that he was not telling them the whole truth.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Oliver walked Miley back to her house and made sure she was comfortable, her eyes were closed but he knew that she was not asleep, just resting. He rubbed her back a little but she jumped at his touch, her heart was racing. He massaged her back and shoulders until she relaxed and her breathing went back to normal. Silently he got up and left hoping she would not wake up.

Miley rolled over on to her stomach, she was on the couch and Oliver had just left. She was worried about Lilly. _What's going to happen to her, I really, really, really hope she's going to be ok, but what if… What if…_ Miley shook she head and tried to erase the thought from her mind. It was horrible and without Lilly she did not know what she would do.

_**Ring, Ring**_

Miley stood up to answer the phone.

"Hello?" Miley said in the receiver, "Oh hi daddy….. what….. oh ok…… sure…… 6:00, that's fine….. ok daddy, ill see you there… bye."

Miley hung up the phone and went up stairs to change


	2. A concert

"Oh yea  
Come on

You get the limo out front  
Have the styles, every shoe, every color

Yea when your famous it can be kinda fun  
Its really you but no one ever discovers

In some ways you're just like all your friends  
But on stage you're a star

You get the best of both worlds  
Chill it out, take it slow  
Then you rock out the show

You get the best of both worlds  
Mix it all together and you know that it's the best of both worlds

The best of both worlds

You go the movie premiers (is that Orlando Bloom?)  
Hear your songs on the radio  
Livin' two lives is a little weird  
But schools cool cuz nobody knows

Yea you get to be a small town girl  
But big time when you play your guitar

You get the best of both worlds  
Chill it out take it slow  
Then you rock out the show

You get the best of both worlds  
Mix it all together and you know that it's the best of both  
You know the best of both worlds

Pictures and autographs  
You get your face in all the magazines  
The best parts that you get to be who ever you wanna be

Yea best of both  
You get the best of both  
Come on best of both

Who would of thought that a girl like me  
Would double as a superstar

You get the best of both worlds  
Chill it out, take it slow  
Then you rock out the show

You get the best of both worlds  
Mix it all together and you know that it's the best of both worlds

You get the best of both worlds  
Without the shades and the hair  
You can go anywhere

You get the best of both girls  
Mix it all together  
Oh yea  
It's so much better cuz you know you've got the best of both worlds"

Miley stared out at the faces of her fans. She smiled and bowed before running off stage to change in to her next outfit

I'm more than just  
Your average girl.  
I like to turn me up  
And show the world.

cause some can talk the talk  
But this girl just wants to rock  
I'm individual  
I'm not like anyone  
I can be glamorous  
Just like you see in all the magazines  
I can be cool as ice  
Or anything I wanna be!

who said, who said, I can't be Superman!  
I say, I say, that I know I can  
Who said, who said, I won't be president!  
I say, I say, You ain't seen nothin' yet!

Oh yeah! Yeah!!

Come on and make some noise,  
Every girl has a choice.  
To live their own parade   
I do it my way! Ow!  
I can be soft and sweet  
Or louder than the radio, radio  
I can be sophisticated or totally go out of control

Who said, who said, I can't be Superman!  
I say, I say, that I know I can  
Who said, who said, I'm not electrified  
I say, I say!

There's no holding back  
When your right on track  
Cuz you've been told again  
So let them know your name  
No limitations on imaginations  
Imagine that!

Yeah!

Who Said, who said, I can't be world wide  
I say, I say, time is on my side   
Who said, who said, I can't be ten feet tall,  
I say, I say, that I can have it all

. Who said, who said, I can't be Superman,  
I say, I say, that I know I can  
Who said, who said, I won't be president  
I say, I say, you ain't seen nothin' yet!   
You ain't seen nothin' yet!  
Whoa!  
Yeah!  
Who Said?   
Cmon! Yeah!!

That's right!

Miley had tears coming to her eyes as she though about the possibility of Lilly not even getting to defy what people say of her. Little did Miley know that her horrible nightmares might just turn into reality.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Miley stared at Lilly's unmoving form under the starch white sheets of the hospital bed. The TV blared in the background but it went unnoticed. Oliver stood in the doorway staring at Miley's unmoving form, he felt the same grief she did but somehow his stayed all bottled up inside and hers just came spewing out. He really wanted to help her, he really did, but how?

Oliver jumped out of the way as the nurse came in to check Lilly's vital signs. She stared at the sheets of paper produced by the monitor at Lilly's side. Then turning back towards the door she let out a small sigh.

The nurse left the room and Oliver walk towards Miley but halfway there he changed his mind and left.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Robbie walked back to the hospital room with a cup of coffee in his hand. He stopped short at the door when he saw Miley with her head in her hands.

He walked over and put his coffee cup down on the table. He picked Miley up in his arms and sat back down in her chair with her in his lap. She cried into his shoulder for a while

Then she looked up at him.

"Daddy what is really going on, please daddy tell me I need to know. Its been 3 weeks and Lilly hasn't even moved, what is really going on daddy, please I need to know." Miley's eyes showed fear as she spoke to her father.

"Well Miles, It's a really long story…

"Please daddy, just shorten it a little so we are not here all day" Miley pleaded with her dad.

"Fine Miles, well, everything I told u was true except that her concussion was worse than the doctors predicted, she may not wake up for a couple more weeks ad even when she wakes up she might suffer some damage to her memory."

"How much damage, dad?"

"Well they are not sure but she may not remember anything at the worst"

"Oh, god" Miley got up and ran from the room

She ran back to her house and collapsed on her bed, her body shaking with tears and fear.

'Please Lilly, please, send me a sign, send me some hope that you will be ok…. Please Lilly, I need to know…. Send me a sign."

A couple of papers blew off her desk in humid June wind and Miley got up to pick them up.

On Miley's desk sticking out from under her Hannah Montana schedule book was a slim envelope.

Miley picked it up and made a move to throw it out until she notices what the front read

_Private_

_For Miley's eyes Only_


	3. A surprise and a rebuttle

Miley's hand shook as she read the letter.

_Dear Miles,_

_I just wanted you to now that everything that has happened the past week has made me realize something. First, it showed me how empty my life would be if Lilly was not in it, and then I though how empty my life would be if you were not in it._

_Secondly, I thought about what I would do if Lilly were to have no memory of me, and then I thought about what I would do if you had no memory of me. Thirdly, I thought about what would happen if Lilly never woke up and became a vegetable for the rest of her life and the only way I could talk to her was at her bed side in the hospital but I would never get a response, and then I thought about what would happen if you were a vegetable. It seemed Miley, that every time I tried to think about life with out Lilly it all came back to life with out you and that made my heart break even though you were alive and standing next to me. This whole week has shown me that the only person I will ever have a heart for is you. And the answer to my thoughts, well lets just say that every single one of them ended up with me wanting to burst into tears and telling myself that no matter what happens to you I will always be by your side. So, in conclusion to this letter I will just say this: I love you Miley Stewart from the bottom of my heart and I will love you until the day I die. _

_Sincerely,_

Miley almost fainted when she read the name at the bottom.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Miley lay down on her bed and thought about the letter she had just read.

_So, in conclusion to this letter I will just say this: I love you Miley Stewart from the bottom of my heart and I will love you until the day I die. _

She had never known he could write like this, it was beautiful and kind. She reread the name at the bottom of the letter:

_Sincerely,_

_Oliver_

Oliver loved her and she had never known, it all came as a shock except that after it had sort of made sense. Oliver was always laughing at her jokes even when they weren't funny, and he always followed her around, he almost followed her into the bathroom once. But, he was always kind to her, plus, he had liked Hannah Montana.

Miley wondered how she should tell him she had read it, she liked him to of course, even Lilly knew that, it had never really been a secret. But somehow Miley felt that something bigger was needed to respond to this letter.

Miley sat up an idea suddenly flooded into her thoughts. She ran down stairs and picked up the Hannah phone. She dialed the number she knew all to well.

When she heard the person on the other end pick up she spoke.

"Hey Christina, could you do me a really big favor………"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Miley stood in front of her rack of clothes, it was slowly rotating and she was trying to decide what to wear tonight. Right now she was just dresses in Jeans and a tank top, having just been to see Lilly. The doctors said that her vital signs were getting stronger and that she might wake up any day now. Miley wished that she could be there tonight but it was the only night that Oliver was available to come so she made do with what she had.

Miley finally reached forward and plucked a top off the rotating rack. It was lime green and glittery, it tied down her back like a corset. She held it up to herself in front of the mirror and wrinkled her nose. The lime green made her look seasick. She put the top back.

She had already picked out the pants she was going to wear, they were jeans with a swirly, almost tie-dye like design running up the side of the leg and on to the back pockets. She had yet to pick a top when her dad called up to her to hurry up. She quickly grabbed two more tops off the rack. One was hot pink the other a pale but striking ly beautiful blue.

She chose the blue.

Pulling it over her head she ran down the stairs grabbing her Hannah wig on the way, she hopped into the limo and they drove off.

The limo pulled up to a crowd of screaming fans. Miley who was now Hannah jumped out and began to walk down the carpet leading to the big stadium. She stopped every once in a while and signed an autograph. But mostly she just waved to her hundreds of fans. When she got inside the stadium she found a guard to ask him something she longed to know.

"Don't worry Miss Montana everything is in place and yes he has arrived." He told her before she could even open her mouth.

Miley went into her dressing room and tried to relax before the show but she knew it was no use, so she decided to practice.

A while later a voice came through the loud speaker. "Hannah Montana to stage"

Miley got up and left the room, she stopped at the makeup department so they could fix her up the she headed to the stage.

The guy handed her a microphone and she stepped out onto the stage to face all the screaming fans. Her stomach did flips because of her excitement of the surprise that laid ahead.

She looked strait into Oliver's eyes. He was sitting exactly in the front and center, the most expensive seat.

She broke the stare and looked into the audience, ready for the night to begin.


	4. A reponse

"Are you all ready to rock tonight?" Miley yelled at the crowd. They responded with a deafening cheer.

The music started up and Miley began to sing.

We haven't met  
And that's okay  
'Cuz you will be asking for me one day  
Don't wanna to wait  
In line  
The moment is mine believe me  
Don't close your eyes  
Cuz it's a chance worth takin'  
And I think that I can shake it  
I know where I stand  
I know who I am  
I would never run away when life gets bad  
It's everything see

Every part of me  
Don't I get what I deserve  
I got nerve (I got I got I got)  
Electrified   
I'm on a wire  
We're Getting together we're on fire  
What I said  
you heard  
Now I got you spinning  
Don't close  
your mind  
The words I use are open  
And I think that I can show you   
I know where I stand  
I know who I am  
I would never run away when life gets bad

It every thing I see

Every part of me  
I know what can change the world (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)  
I know what you like  
I know what you think  
Not afraid to stare you down until you blink  
It's every thing I see  
Every part of me  
Gunna get I what I deserve  
I got nerve  
You, you need to discover   
who makes you feel free  
I need to uncover  
the part of you that's reaching out for me, heyyy  
I know where I stand  
I know who I am  
I would never run away when life gets bad

Its everything I see

Every part of me  
I know what can change the world (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)  
I know what you like  
I know what you think  
Not afraid to stare you down until you blink  
It's every thing I see  
Every part of me  
Don't I get I what I deserve  
I got nerve  
I got Nerve  
I know what you like  
I know what you think  
Not afraid to stare you down until you blink  
It's every thing I see  
Every part of me   
Gunna I get I what I deserve  
I got...  
I got Nerve

Miley finished her song with a smile and spoke to the crowd with an eager voice she wanted her finale to come faster than it was coming.

The music started up again and Miley started to sing again.

Uh Oh!

There you go again talking cinematic

Yeah you!

Your charming...  
Got everybody star struck  
I know

How you always seem to go  
For the obvious  
Instead of me  
Get a ticket and you'll see

If we were a movie  
You'd be the right guy  
And I'd be the best friend  
That you'd fall in love with  
In the end we'd be laughing  
Watching the sunset  
Fade to black  
Show the names  
Play that happy song

Wish I could tell you there's a kiss  
Like something more than in my mind  
I'd see it could be amazing

(If we were a)  
If we were a movie  
You'd be the right guy  
And I'd be the best friend  
That you'd fall in love with  
In the end we'd be laughing  
Watching the sunset   
Fade to black  
Show the names  
Play that happy song

All through the song Miley thought about Oliver and how it was so true and that he would know soon enough

The last song started up, then again Miley thought there is still the terrific finale.

Take the world   
Shakin; stirrin  
That's what I've goin'on  
I throw my cares up in the air  
And I don't think they're comin' down  
Yeah, I love how it feels right now

This is the life! Hold on tight!   
And this is the dream  
It's all I need!  
You never know where you'll find it  
And I'm gunna take my time, yeah  
I'm still getting it right  
This is the Life

Takin' in a whole new scene  
and swimming with a new crowd  
Breakin' down the old four walls  
And building them up from the ground yeah.  
I love how it feels right now

This is the life!  
Hold on tight!  
And this is the dream!  
It's all I need!  
You never know where you'll find it  
and I'm gunna take my time yeah.  
and I'm still getting it right  
this is the life

Gonna follow my own lead, yeah!  
Kick back and feel the breeze!  
Nothing but the blue sky!  
As far as I can see!

This is the life   
Hold on tight!  
And this is the dream!  
It's all I need!   
You never know where you'll find it  
And I'm gonna take my time, yeah  
I'm still getting it right

This is the life!  
Hold on tight!  
And this is the dream!  
It's all I need!  
You never know where you'll find  
And I'm gonna take my time yeah  
I'm still getting it right

This is the Life

Miley smiled wide and walked off the stage to get ready for the finale.

About 5 min later Miley came out of the dressing room dressed in the most showing outfit her dad would let her wear, of course her wardrobe lady, Diana, had convinced him a little and Christina helped a little too. It was something similar to what Angelina Jolie wore in Mr. and Mrs. Smith in the first mission you see her go on after they are already married. Were she breaks the guy's neck, but Miley's is longer and shows less cleavage.

The announcer hands the microphone to Miley who spoke from back stage.

"Hey everyone," she said, "thanks for coming tonight, this next song my good friend helped me learn it and she also gave me permission to use it. I hope you all like it. This song is dedicated to someone special, Oliver, this is for you."

The stadium went black just as Oliver's eyes widened at the sound of his name.

The music started and Oliver was swept away by Miley's beauty and the message the song brought to his ears.

It went like this:

heyyyyyyyyyyeah

Do your thang honey!

I could feel it from the start,

Couldn't stand to be apart.

Something 'bout you caught my eye,

Something moved me deep inside!

I don't know what you did boy but you had it

And I've been hooked ever since.

I told my mother, my brother, my sister and my friends

told the others, my lovers, both past and present tense.

That everytime I see you everything starts making sense.

Do your thang honey!

Ain't no other man, can stand up next to you

Ain't no other man on the planet does what you do

(what you do).

You're the kinda guy, a girl finds in a blue moon.

You got soul, you got class.

You got style, you bad ass - oh yeah!

Ain't no other man its true - alright -

Ain't no other man but you.

Never thought I'd be alright. No, no, no!

Till you came and changed my life. Yeah, yeah, yeah!

What was cloudy now is clear! Yeah, yeah!

You're the light that I needed.

You got what I want boy, and I want it!

So keep on givin' it up!

Tell your mother, your brother, your sister, and your friends.

And the others, your lovers, better not be present tense.

Cause I want everyone to know that you are mine and no one else's!

Ain't no other man, can stand up next to you

Ain't no other man on the planet does what you do

(what you do).

You're the kinda guy, a girl finds in a blue moon.

You got soul, you got class.

You got style, you bad ass - oh yeah!

Ain't no other man it's true - alright -

Ain't no other man but you.

Break it down now!

Ain't no other, ain't, ain't no other! (other)

Ain't no other, ain't, ain't no other LOVER!

Ain't no other, I, I, I need no other!

Ain't no other man but you!

Ohhhh!

You are there when I'm a mess

Talk me down from every ledge

Give me strength, boy you're the best

You're the only one who's ever passed every test

Ain't no other man, can stand up next to you

Ain't no other man on the planet does what you do

(what you do).

You're the kinda guy, a girl finds in a blue moon.

You got soul, you got class.

You got style with ya bad ass - oh yeah!

Ain't no other man it's true

Ain't no other man but you.

And now I'm tellin you son, ain't no other man but you

Ain't no other man, can stand up next to you

Ain't no other man on the planet does what you do

(what you do).

You're the kinda guy, a girl finds in a blue moon. (baby, baby, baby)

You got soul, you got class.

You got style ya bad ass - oh yeah!

Ain't no other man it's true - alright -

Ain't no other man but you.

As the lights in the theatre came back on Oliver caught Miley's eyes and he gave her a huge star struck smile.


	5. A scare

Miley sat outside her dressing room door signing autographs; so far she had signed pictures of her, pieces of paper, a McDonald's wrapper and a person's foot. She was getting a little creeped out.

"Don't worry Miles," Her dad whispered to her, "only 5 more people.'

Miley sighed to herself and finished writing her name on the picture of her someone had handed her.

It was a picture of her from a CD signing a couple weeks ago, someone had obviously had taken it with a really, really, really, really, old camera because it was fuzzy and had a tinge of green in it. Miley felt the urge to rip it up because it was such a bad picture. But instead she just handed it back to the girl and called to the next person in line.

Finally there was only one person in line.

Without looking up Miley said "Hi, who should I make this out to?"

"Well," the person replied, "You should make it out to the only person you would ever get up on stage for and sing a song that you don't even know; just to answer a simple letter."

Miley absentmindedly wrote the word on the paper and signed her name but before she could hand it back to the person she felt lips against her own.

"Hey," Miley yelled pushing the person back.

She looked up and registered who it was.

"Oliver you are so incredibly mean," Miley said with a smile

"Well, you the one who is crazy," Oliver smiled as he spoke, "I expected a phone call but instead I the best seat in the house of a Hannah Montana concert and a whole song just for me. Do you know how surprised I was when I heard my name over the speakers?"

"Yes I do, I saw your face and let me tell you, it wasn't pretty." Miley laughed

Oliver lightly hit her on the arm.

"Come on Oliver," Miley started toward her dressing room.

Inside her dad was folding up the clothes Hannah had worn that night.

"That's a sight to see ," Miley said, "Your dad folding you laundry."

Her dad gave her a look and went back to his folding.

Miley and Oliver plopped themselves down on the couch and Miley pulled off her wig. They both grabbed a soda for the mini fridge next to the couch.

Miley bounced up when her cell phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi is this Miley Stewart?"

"Yes this is, who is this?" Miley did not recognize the voice.

"I'm calling from Malibu general Hospital to inform you of Lilly Truscott's change in condition." The voice stated.

"What….what happened,"

By now Oliver and Robbie were at Miley's side and looking nervous.

"Well Miss, I was just told to inform you something has changed and that you should come down here." The woman sounded bored stating this news.

"So you don't know if its bad or good news." Miley was hungry for information.

"No miss, I'm just an intern."

"Well, you suck as an intern and you know what else I think……"

Oliver attempted to rip the phone out of her hand but it was Robbie who finally got it away from her.

"I'm sorry miss, we will be right down, thank you…. Good bye," Robbie hung up the phone.

"Come on dad, lets go." Miley said as soon as the phone hit the cradle.

Robbie let the manager of the place know that they were leaving and that Miley's costume and Make up people would clean up.

They got in the limo and headed towards the hospital.

The limo pulled smoothly up to the huge double doors of the hospital. As soon as it came to a stop Miley, Oliver and Robbie burst out and sprinted towards the door nearly running over several people.

"Lilly Truscott please," Miley panted as she spoke to the woman at the desk.

"Excuse me ma'am, but are you aware of the hour?" The woman responded

"No but I'm sure your going to tell me." Miley's words were very unlike her and came as a result of the fright building up inside her.

"Well, it's now 12:16 and you're being unnecessarily loud. So could you please lower the volume of your voice."

"Alright fine, is this better?

"Yes"

"Now can you please tell me wear Lilly Truscott is? Please?" Miley was hungry for information about her best friend.

"Are you Miley Stewart?"

"Yes"

"Well then have a seat and I'll page the doctor and he will be out in a minute to speak with you." The woman sounded annoyed as if it was a hassle just to speak into a receiver. Miley wanted to hit her.

Miley and the others sat down in the hard, plastic chairs to wait. Miley pulled a Teen magazine out of the bottom of a rack, Oliver sat twiddling his thumbs as Robbie pulled the latest addition of Sports Illustrated. About 15 Minutes later a man in a white coat came through the double doors and called Miley's name. She popped right up and the others followed closely behind her. The man led then into a small office.

"Well, what happened to Lilly?" There was a large amount of impatience in Miley's voice.

"Yeah, I think we all want to know," said Oliver speaking for the first time.

"She's been having some trouble breathing on her own so we put the breathing tube back on her, but then yesterday we were receiving some strange readings from the heart monitor. We decided to do a CAT scan and the results were a bit unsettling. We found some discoloration in one area of the brain. She's in emergency surgery now. She's been in surgery for 4 hours and should be finishing up soon.

Miley tensed, "Will she die?"

"I'm not sure," the doctor replied, "So far the surgery has gone very well but the recovery will be the toughest part.

Miley stared at her feet as her eyes filled with tears. She slouched in the chair. Somewhere in the distance she recognized her dad's voice but it was if she was in a fog. She felt a hand slide into hers and someone telling her to stand up. She obeyed but it was if her feet were broken. A strong pair of arms wrapped around her and lifted her up, off the floor.

She was gently placed into a car and she felt Oliver slide in next to her, his arms wrapped around her gently. The car had begun to move and Miley watched the trees and houses fly by.

When the car came to a stop Miley opened her door and got out. It was almost as if her feet had a mind of there own.

He soon felt sand under her feet and in the distance she herd Oliver calling her name. She sprinted ahead, not wanting to talk to anyone. But soon she was just to tired and she collapsed into the sand and burst out crying after holding it in. She felt someone drop down beside her and pull her onto their lap. Oliver's voice rang out in her head telling her everything was going to be ok.

They just sat there for hours until the sun started to come over the horizon. Then Oliver picked her up nod brought her back to her house. He placed her in her bed, removing her shoes first. He sat in her lounge chair and pulled a blanket onto himself. Miley relaxed as darkness clouded her eyes.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Oliver woke up with the sun shining in his eyes. He stood up and stretched his back was sore from sleeping in the chair all night. He looked over at Miley's sleeping form. She had an intense look on her face that made his heart wrench. She was so beautiful and he loved her so much but he felt that there was nothing he could do for her. He walked over and kissed her forehead before heading into the bathroom to take a shower.

The water cascaded down his back and relaxed his muscles. He felt as though the water was rinsing away all his pain and fear. He stayed in the shower for almost 25 minutes before stepping out and grabbing the extra towel off the rack. He dried himself off and slipped his clothes back on, towel drying his hair before stepping back into Miley's room

She was still asleep, just in a different position. He slipped out the door quietly as not to wake her. He walked down the stairs and the strong sent of bacon filled his nostrils. The smell made him realize how hungry he was, not having eaten since the limo picked him up for the concert around 2 yesterday afternoon. They were supposed to have gone out to dinner after the concert but became preoccupied with other things. His stomach growled and he walked into the kitchen to find Jackson and Robbie awake and eating breakfast. He accepted a plate of pancakes and bacon from Robbie and sat down to eat them.

Just as he was digging into his second plate of pancakes he distinctly heard footsteps on the stairs. A second later Miley appeared and padded across the kitchen to take a seat next to Oliver. Her fac showed no expression as her dad put a plate in front of her.

"What are you guys doing today?" asked Robbie

Oliver shrugged his shoulders and Miley just stared at her pancakes. Robbie did no press them any further but instead slid the last of the pancakes on Oliver and Jackson's plates and began to clean up from breakfast.

Miley, who had only taken three bites of her food, got up and ran out of the room and up the stairs. Oliver connected eyes with Robbie before following Miley.


	6. The show with Oliver

Oliver found Miley curled up on her bed. He crawled onto the bed and took Miley in his arms. He sat there rocking back and forth. He kissed her forehead and talked to her until she stopped shaking.

"Miles, everything is going to be ok." Oliver said

"How do know that Oliver. Anything can happen. I mean, I'm so scared, Lilly could die." Miley's body shook at her own words

Oliver hugged her tighter, "I really don't know Miles, but I believe that she will be alright."

"I'm so scared, we can't lose Lilly."

"I know, I know, but it will be ok, she will get through it, I promise."

They sat there for a while until Robbie walked in. He stopped short when he saw Oliver holding Miley but continued on when he saw that he was just comforting her.

"I'm going to the grocery store and then dropping Jackson off at work. Hannah Montana is supposed to attend a special showing of the play Wicked tonight at he theatre and then attend the after party. Do you think your up to it Miley?" Robbie asked

Miley wiped her eyes and looked at Oliver before responding to her dad, "Yeah dad, I want to go, but only if Oliver can come to."

Robbie smiled, "Of course, I'll arrange the whole thing you just have to show up." He understood how she felt.

Robbie left and Miley seemed to perk up.

'Come on Oliver, let's go to the beach until we have to get ready."

Miley ran into her closet. She grabbed her all time favorite bathing suit and matching beach cover up. Then she ran into the bathroom to change. Oliver picked up the hot pink receiver from the bright yellow cradle. He dialed his home number and told his mom there plans for the day and that he would be stopping by to get his bathing suit.

Miley came out of the bathroom just as Oliver was hanging up the phone. They both ran down the stairs and out into the sun.

The beach was fairly crowded so they headed down towards the water where there were less people. Miley stripped down to her bathing suit and waded into the warm water while Oliver went to change. When he came back we went into the water with Miley. They swam and splashed around for awhile. They tried to dunk each other under but it always seemed that Oliver won and Miley ended up being tossed up in the air by him. It ended with them both on the surface laughing hysterically while trying to catch there breath.

Miley swam to shore and dragged her self out of the water and over to the towels they had laid out earlier, Oliver was close behind her. They both collapsed on to the towels in exhaustion. After catching there breath they walked up to the main beach and over to Rico's, where Jackson worked.

Jackson just stood there, staring out into space. The look on his face indicated that Robbie had told him about Lilly. Miley and Oliver each took a seat on one of the stools at the counter. Miley looked at Jackson with worry.

"Jackson? Are you ok?" Miley studied his face

"Do you think she's in pain Miles? Do you think she is hurting?" Jackson's voice sounded strained as though holding back something.

"I don't know Jackson. All I know is that the doctors are taking really good care of her and we have to trust them." Miley said

"Ok Miles. So, do you guys want anything?"

"Yes please," Said Oliver speaking finally, "I'll have a cheese burger with fries and a coke."

"And I'll have a turkey and cheese melt with extra crispy potato chips and a diet coke." Said Miley

Miley and Oliver sat and talked while about the show they wee seeing that night while Jackson started there food.

Jackson placed the steaming food in front of them and Oliver immediately dug in. Miley watched Jackson for a minute as he stuck his nose in a magazine and tried to look normal. Miley kept watching him as she picked up her sandwich and took a bite. She looked over at Oliver who was almost done with his cheeseburger. She bit down again and got a mouthful of warm turkey, melted cheese, toasted bread, mixed with cool tomatoes, crisp lettuce and smooth, tangy mayonnaise. It was so good. She mixed all the flavors around in her mouth before swallowing it and taking another bite. She looked back at Oliver who had finished his cheeseburger and was now putting a pretty good dent in his large pile of fries. She sipped her soda and got back to her sandwich but not before opening her bag of extra crisp, all natural potato chips. They were salty and very, very crispy, just as the bag advertised. That was exactly how Miley liked them. Oliver pushed his now empty plate away from him just as Miley was starting on the second half of her sandwich. Jackson took Oliver's plate and put it in the oversized sink in the back of the small kitchen area of the hut. He refilled Oliver's drink and set it back down in front of him. When Miley finished her sandwich Jackson took her plate and put the check in front of them. She put some money on the counter and then her and Oliver headed back to her house to get ready for the show.

Miley led Oliver up to her room. They had decided that he would go as Oliver and not have another identity but noone would know his last name.

Miley picked out her outfit. It was jeans with blue, butterfly embroidery around the cuffs. The shirt was bright blue with hot pink weaved into it. She wore a bright pink cami under it because it was a long V-neck. Hot pink sneakers and a blue purse completed the outfit. Miley did her makeup carefully and put her wig by the door so that she would not forget it.

Now…… it was Oliver's turn, Miley led him to Jackson's room. She had asked Jackson earlier if Oliver could use some of his clothes. Miley stepped into Jackson's closet, which was almost as big as hers. She picked out a simple pair of khaki pants and a light blue button down shirt that he would wear open over a plain white t-shirt. She slicked back his hair so that it lay flat and handed him a large square faced watch with holes all the way around the thick band. The face of the watch only had two numbers on it, six and twelve. The rest were represented by tick marks. She then handed him a pair of sunglasses so that he could hid his identity from anyone they already knew.

Miley paged her dad telling him to get the limo ready to go. Her and Oliver ran down the stairs, Miley put her wig on in the hall mirror and then went out to the limo, were Oliver was waiting for her.

The limo pulled up to a red carpet surrounded by hundreds of screaming fans. Someone opened the door to the limo and Oliver got out. He put out his hand to help Miley. Miley placed her hand into Oliver's and climbed out of the limo. The noise rose to a defining state as the crowd noticed that it was Hannah Montana. She smiled and waved, taking Oliver's hand in her own. They started to walk down the long carpet, stopping every once in a while for Miley to sign autographs or pose for pictures with fans. When they got to the end they turned around to wave one last time.

They waved and then Oliver leaned over and kissed Miley on the cheek, just as they had planned. It was almost completely silent except for a few cheers and wolf whistles. The crowd was in shock, noone had ever kissed Hannah Montana before. The couple waved again before disappearing insides the theatre.


	7. The party and a scary phone call

The show was a special showing of the Broadway show Wicked featuring the original cast.

Idina Menzel as Elphaba

Kristen Chenoweth as Galinda/Glinda

Norbert Leo Butz as Fiyero

Ben Vereen as The Wizard of OZ

And Christopher Fitzgerald as Boq

Miley has seen the play once before but this was Oliver's first time. At Intermission they left the theatre to get drinks.

'What do you think of the play so far Oliver?" said Miley as they returned to their seats.

"I love it. My favorite song is the one Galinda sings to Elphaba in their bed room." said Oliver

"Oh yeah, I like that one to, its called popular, I think, yea it is," Said Miley after checking her program, "But my favorite is defying gravity. Its almost like my song, Who Said, because its showing that noone can hold you back form what you want to do."

"Yeah it kinda is."

With that the end of intermission bell rang and they took there seats to enjoy the rest of the play.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The curtain finally closed and the house lights finally came on. An announcer came on stage.

"Excuse me every one," He said, "can you all take a seat please."

Everyone who had begun to leave sat back down after a couple minutes the man continued.

"I would like everyone to stay seated until the special guests on there was to the after party with the cast leave," he said, "So, can Ashley Tisdale, Zack Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens please leave now."

Everyone in the theatre started to scream at the names. The three of them stood up and made there way out of the theater trying to avoid those that stood up when they were announced.

The man continued, "Thank you very much, but I will ask again, please remain seated, those who violate this will be in great trouble and may be arrested. Next, will Hannah Montana and her guest Oliver please leave."

Miley and Oliver both stood up and shook the hands of those around them before making there way out. When they got out of the theatre they found the limo with there name on it. As they got into the limo they heard the announcer speaking and more screams erupt. Inside the limo they talked about the show as Miley poured them drinks from the small fridge built into the side of the limo.

They rode for awhile, just discussing the show until Miley's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi bun, it's me," Her dads voice came through the phone.

"Oh, hi daddy, we just got out of the show and now we are heading to the after party. We almost got mobbed trying to get out of the theatre. It was kinda scary."

"Well as long as your ok. I just called to let you know that Lilly made it out of her surgery, her vital signs are much better and when they did another CAT scan there were no more odd spots on her brain. But she still has not woken up."

"That's good daddy, but will she be ok?"

I'm not sure miles, but I don't want you to worry, just go to the party and enjoy yourselves. You can go and see Lilly tomorrow. Have hope honey, she will be ok, I can feel it."

"All right dad, I'll be hopeful and I will try and have fun and not to worry."

"I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"Ok, talk to you later, bye"

"Bye"

Miley hung up the phone and turned to Oliver

"He said that Lilly got through surgery ok but still has not woken up yet. He said to have hope but I can't help but worry."

"There's no need to worry, Lilly is strong, she will get through this."

The limo pulled up to the building where the party was being held. Miley and Oliver had to cut there conversation short so that they could get out of the limo and step onto the second red carpet that day.

Oliver and Miley headed up the red carpet and into the building where the party was being held.

It was decorated very beautifully. One half of the room was decorated in black and green to symbolize Elphaba. The other half of the room was decorated in white to symbolize Glinda. In the middle of the room the colors blended together to symbolize the two girls being friends and the similarity between good and evil. Around the room there were plastic statues of each of the characters and on the walls there were murals of a couple of the scenes.

Miley led Oliver over to the buffet table where they got in line.

"Oh, my god," said Oliver, "Mi… I mean Hannah would you introduce me to Ashley Tisdale. She is so hott!"

Miley gently hit him on the arm, "Sure Oliver, but remember, no Smoken' Oken pick up lines tonight because your last name isn't Oken, plus they are lame to use on these stars."

Oliver looked sad but Miley perked him up again when she told him that they were sitting with Ashley Tisdale, Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Brenda Song, Dylan and Cole Sprouse for dinner.

"Oooo, really, we get to sit with all famous people."

"Oh, Oliver, stop drooling. You have to pretend you do this every day, like me."

They took plates from the end of the buffet table. Miley took mashed potatoes, steak, corn, green beans, and corn bread. Oliver, who had been eyeing the food hungrily, took pork, corn, ziti, mashed potatoes, green beans, mac and cheese, and corn bread before Miley stopped him.

'Sheesh Oliver, how hungry are you. Don't forget there is a huge dessert buffet after."

'Oh, really, sweet, dessert is my favorite."

They made there way over to the dining area. They wandered around looking for their table.

"Hey Hannah," said Oliver, "you said we were sitting Ashley Tisdale and Zac Efron right?"

"Yeah, and Dylan, Cole, Vanessa, and Brenda, why?"

"I think I see them over there," said Oliver, pointing to the other side of the room.

Miley and Oliver headed over to where he thought he spotted them. Oliver was right, there they were, minus Dylan and Cole.

As they got closer Ashley spotted them and called them over. They both sat down, Miley was next to Brenda, and Oliver was between Miley and Ashley.

Miley kicked him under the table.

"Ow! What was that for?" Oliver whispered, turning towards her

"You were staring," Miley whispered back.

They dug into their food and sat quietly chewing silently.

"So, Hannah, when is your next concert," Zac asked.

"Well, I have one next week in Malibu, but I'm taking the week off because one of my friends is really sick," She responded

"Oh, no what happened?" Vanessa and Brenda asked at the same time. The table erupted in giggles.

"She got in a car accident and hurt her head, she just had surgery, but the accident was two months ago and she still has not woken up." Tears came to her eyes and she choked back a sob.

Oliver rubbed her back to comfort her.

"That's horrible," said Vanessa

"What's horrible?" Dylan and Cole walked up with there food

'Oh hey Dylan, Hannah's friend is in the hospital with a head injury." Brenda explained

"Oh no, really," Cole said

"Yea," Miley spoke up, "she's been in the hospital for 2 months and still has not woken up."

"Hey Hannah, can I talk to you for minute," Zac asked

"Sure" said Miley standing up.

Zac led her over to one side of the large room.

"Hannah," He asked, "are you sure you ok, you seem really torn up over this friend of yours."

"Yeah Zac, I think I'm holding up alright, she's just one of my really close friends and, yeah, I have Oliver but he's just not the same."

"Ok," He replied, "can I do anything, anything at all?"

"Well….. there is nothing you can do for me but there is something you could do for Lilly, she's my friend."

"Anything, you name it."

"Well, when she does wake up, I know that she would really like to meet you."

'Sure, I'll come, and you know what, I'll bring Ashley, Vanessa, Brenda, Dylan, Cole, Corbin, Monique, and Lucas with me."

"Oh would you Zac, that would be great, she would love that."

Wow, Miley thought, he's awfully close to me.

"No Problem," He said

Then………. He kissed her.

She did not kiss back, I mean, she has a boyfriend, but she didn't break the kiss. Why would she, she was kissing Zac Efron.

He broke the kiss and smiled at her, "We better get back," He said

They walked back to the table but Oliver was gone.

"Where did Oliver go?" Asked Miley to the table generally

"I don't know," said Vanessa, "He went that way thought

"Yea," Brenda added, "He bolted away pretty fast when he saw you kiss Zac."

Miley blushed and headed toward the way Vanessa had pointed.

She stepped out side into the chilly night air. Oliver was sitting on one of the many white benches. She sat down next to him but didn't speak. He made a move to get up and leave but she grabbed his wrist.

'Let me go," He growled

"Come on Oliver. What is wrong, why did you leave."

"Why do you think?"

"I don't know Oliver, you know I'm not good at guessing games, are you mad because I went to talk to Zac."

"Miles, you are so incredibly oblivious. I'm not mad because you talked to Zac, I'm mad because you **KISSED **him

"He kissed me, I did not kiss him back."

'So, you didn't push him away either,"

"Come on Oliver, you know that no one knows we are dating and not kissing him makes it look like Hannah Montana can't gat a guy."

"What am I then, nothing, is that what I mean to you, you think I'm nothing," Oliver's voice was rising as he spoke

"No Oliver that's not true, you mean a lot to me. But it's better if they think Hannah is going out with someone else so they don't make a connection.

"Well if one half of you is going out with someone else, maybe all of you should."

Miley gaped, "are you breaking up with me? Just because Hannah Montana kissed someone else. You're not even going out with Hannah Montana, your going out with Miley Stewart,"

"God Miley, you just don't get it….." Ring Ring

Oliver was interrupted my Miley's cell phone ringing

"Oh, hold on a minute Oliver," Miley picked up the phone, "Hello? Daddy……….Is that you... Hello?...Is that you?...Hello?... What?... You're breaking up……….Oh my god…….."

Miley dropped the phone

Oliver picked up and hung it up.

"Miley what happened?"

"He………. He said………..static………. couldn't understand………" She trailed off

"Miley, do you know any thing at all." Oliver was worried

"Lilly……. Emergency… come….. Hurry….. Lilly….. Lilly….. no…… Lilly….. no .." Miley couldn't come up with a complete sentence.

"Come on Miley, we are going"

Oliver grabbed her had and led her off, completely forgetting the argument they had just moments before.


	8. Anouther scare

The couple hailed a limo and climbed in, directing it to the correct hospital. Miley seemed to be in a state of shock. Oliver held her and rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. His mind was on Lilly but it was also on the argument they had just had. He did not really want to break up with Miley. It was just way too hard, he loved her so much but with her being Hannah Montana and all…… Miley had been right, it would be better if Hannah was dating someone else, he already did not like it that some other guy was going to get her attention but if the world found out that Miley was Hannah Montana, more guys than Oliver could even imagine would be all over her. He couldn't even stand the thought of her being used because of Hannah Montana. Miley sobbed into his shoulder and he hugged her closer to him. Stroking her hair he spoke to her, telling her that it was going to be alright. She clung to him and it made his heart soar to know that he was comforting her and that she needed him. He rested his head on hers and turned his thoughts to Lilly.

The limo pulled up to the front of the hospital. Just like they had about 24 hours ago, Oliver and Miley dashed out of the limo and into the hospital. Miley ran through the doors and up to a very large white washed desk where a woman was seated. Miley asked the woman where Lilly Truscott was.

"Your…..your…" The woman stuttered

"What," said Miley, "I'm what?"

"You're…..you're……you're Hannah Montana..." The lady finally managed to get out.

"Oh crap" Miley whispered under her breath.

She smiled at the woman. Trying to think of a good explanation for it.

"Excuse me ma'am," said Oliver stepping out from behind Miley, "We can all see that she's Hannah Montana, but obviously she is here to see a friend and not to sign autographs. So, if you could just tell her where to find Lilly Truscott, I think that's what she said, then we can all continue on as normal, because I'm kinda in a hurry, even if your not."

"Oh yes," the woman stammered, checking her computer, "She is in room 346, it says anyone can go up so go ahead."

"Thank you very much ma'am," Said Miley as she hurried away.

"Hi," said Oliver to he woman, making it sound like he had nothing to do with Hannah Montana, "where are the vending machines?"

"They are right behind you sir." The woman replied pointing to them.

"Oh, yes, that's my eyes, forgot my glasses again, thank you." Oliver turned and headed for the Elevator where Miley had disappeared.

Miley ran out of the elevator and down along hall. Oliver followed right behind her.

"Daddy!!" Miley yelled

"Whoa! Hannah Montana! What are you doing here?" Her dad answered

"Daddy it does not matter. What's happening to Lilly."

"Baby doll, you can not be here. Quick, hide over there. I'll get you a change of clothes. There not letting anyone into see here anyway."

"No dad, I need to see her," Miley retorted, "you know that they will let Hannah Montana in. Please dad, please!"

"Fine, but if you get in trouble I'm not getting you out of it."

"Thank you so, so much daddy."

Miley hurried over to the receptionist's desk. The receptionist looked shocked but Miley ignored her.

"Hi, I need to see Lilly Truscott please."

The woman shook her head o get out of her daze and typed something into the computer. She looked concerned and then turned and dialed the phone. She spoke softly before hanging up and turning back to Miley, smiling a very fake smile.

"I'm sorry miss, but its family only."

"Please ma'am let me in, please."

"No, I'm sorry miss but I was told family only and that's how it's going to stay."

"I will do anything to get in, please, anything," Miley felt like crying as she spoke.

The woman studied her face.

"I can think of something, just let me make some phone calls, ok."

"Yes, yes thank you, thank you so much."

Miley went and sat down next to Oliver and her dad. The woman picked up the phone and started to talk again.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The woman hung up the phone and turned back towards Miley. She waved at her and Miley walked over to the desk.

"Hi Hannah, I found out from one of the children doctors that the Children's hospital would love a concert. If you do a small concert then I will let you in to see Miss Truscott. Her parents are in there now."

"Oh, ok I will do the concert but on one condition."

"Well it depends what it is."

"I get to see Lilly every other time without doing anything else."

"Alright fine, you need to be over in the children's ward in 30 minutes. You can sing 3 songs. Then come back down here and I will let you in."

"Ok, which way to the children's ward?"

"6th floor, down the hallway and to the left."

Miley thanked her and headed back to where Oliver and her dad were waiting. She filled them in and they all headed up to where she would perform.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Miley stepped onto the stage and stared out at the smallest crowd she had ever preformed for. She looked out at all the children. There were multiple children sitting in wheel chairs with casts wrapped around varied limbs. There wee also a couple kids that were sitting in chairs looking perfectly normal but Miley knew that they were from the cancer ward. She felt bad but she was briefed before the show that if anything happened to any of the kids she should just finish her song and then end the show.

She smiled at he kids.

"Hey everybody, as you know I'm Hannah Montana and I'm here to visit one of my friends and I decided that I would do a show for all of you. You are all wonderful and very brave for staying here in the hospital, I remember when I had surgery once and the only thing I remember about my stay is that the food was completely horrible," I ripple of laughter went through the crowd at Miley's comment, "It's very true, you are all very brave for dealing with the food."

Hannah gave the Microphone back to one of the nurses and put on her hands free mic.

The music started and Miley started to sing.

Hey  
Get up  
Get loud  
Start pumpin' up the party now

Start pumpin' up the party now 

It's the same old, same kind  
But we don't feel the race in time  
Not so boys that we can find will turn it away   
My friends, my kind  
No one's gettin' left behind  
If they did it'd be a drag  
And thats why we say  
Let the music start a revolution  
No time to play it safe

Hey  
Get up  
Get loud  
Start pumpin' up the party now

Start pumpin' up the party now 

They can  
We can  
Parents might not understand  
How we come without a plan  
Well thats what we do   
We're all here (Let's go!)  
Gotta make this party go  
Together we can make it flow  
Thats what we'll do  
The music's gonna start a revolution  
Too late to play it safe

Hey  
Get up  
Get loud  
Start pumpin' up the party now

Start pumpin' up the party now

We don't have to pay by numbers ??  
Let our voice come out from under  
Hear it cry  
Feel the thunder  
It's time to lose control

Hey   
Get up  
Get loud  
Start pumpin' up the party now

Start pumpin' up the party now  
Pumpin' up the party now  
Party now, party now

Hey   
Get up  
Get loud  
Start pumpin' up the party now

Start pumpin' up the party now

Start pumpin' up the party now

Start pumpin' up the party now

Miley ended the song and took a bow. The small amount of people watching gave a surprisingly loud round of applause. Miley smiled and the next song started up.

Yeah, yeah  
So what you see is only half the story,  
There's another side of me.  
I'm the girl you know, but I'm someone else, too,  
If only you knew.   
It's a crazy life,  
But I'm alright.

I've got everything I've always wanted,  
I'm living the dream.  
So, yeah, everything I've always wanted,  
Is it always what it seems?   
I'm a lucky girl,  
Whose dreams came true.  
But who really needs it all?  
I'm just like you.

I've got everything I've always wanted,  
Is it always what it seems?  
I'm a lucky girl,   
Whose dreams came true.  
But who really needs it all?  
I'm just like you.

Miley smiled at her crowd who gave another surprising round of applause. The last song started and Miley wished it would hurry up so that she could see Lilly but she also was glad that she could do this for the kids.

I'm just like anybody else  
Can't you tell  
I hold the key (the key) To both realities  
The girl that I want you to know  
If only I could show  
Yeah!

The other side (other side)  
The other side (other side)  
I want you to see (Yeah!)  
The other side (other side)  
The other side (other side)  
The other side of me

The other side (other side)  
The other side (other side)  
I want you to see (Aw.. yeah)  
The other side (other side)  
The other side (other side)  
The other side of me

Miley took one last bow and hopped off the stage. She could not wait to see Lilly.


	9. Trying to leave the pain

The door creaked as Miley pushed it open. The room was fairly dark except for light coming from the shaded windows. Miley stepped aside to let a nurse through. The nurse was carrying a tray of syringes and a bag full of oddly clouded water. Miley watched the nurse pass before turning back toward Lilly. She was laying absolutely still, she looked completely lifeless. Miley walked up to her bad side and sat down in one of the hard, blue, plastic chairs. She ran her fingers over Lilly's hand. Miley sighed and sat back. She just wanted this whole ordeal to be over. She looked at Lilly's face, she looked so peaceful. Miley reached up and wiped a few stray hairs off her face she reached forward and took Lilly's hand in her own, she squeezed it and waited for the return squeeze that she knew would never come. She leaned forward until her head was resting on the bed and started to cry. The machine on Miley's left started to go crazy. Miley jumped and looked at Lilly. She looked normal but obviously the machine thought other wise.

Miley screamed, turned and ran from the room. The doctors rushed in and all crowded around Lilly yelling a variety of things at each other. Miley ran towards the elevator. She needed to get away. She could not deal with anything to do with Lilly right now. She had Oliver and Hannah and everything and she did not need anything in her life to come crashing down. She heard Oliver's voice but she just kept on running. She stood at the Elevator for a split second and then decided to take the stairs. She sprinted down the 6 flights and out of the hospital doors. A car blared its horn at her but she did not care, she just kept on running.

She reached her desired destination the cliff in the woods where she had went with Oliver right after Lilly got hurt. She walked over near the edge. She looked down at the beautiful turquoise water. It shown in the moonlight and Miley wished everything could be as simple as a wave, just rock back and forth, in and out, every day every year, never changing. She stepped cautiously closer to the edge. An idea formed in her head. If only the pain was gone, it was over she was sure Lilly was gone and even though she had Oliver, Hannah Montana, and her dad it was not enough. She now had a huge chunk out of her heart and she just needed the pain to end. The idea sounded good to her, leave the planet, and leave the pain. She stepped even closer to the edge, her toes were over it now and she looked down at the beautiful and she thought about how this was the last time she would ever see them and she thought about Oliver and how she would never, ever, see him again. But it did not matter, she was going to do this and that was that. She put one foot out over the edge and took the weight off her other foot. She felt herself pitch forward.


	10. Understanding each other and better news

She felt her shirt tighten around her front and she found herself hanging of the cliff.

"What do you think your doing Miley" Oliver's voice rang out in her head.

"Please Oliver just let me go. I want to die, please it is what I want."

"Well, what about what I want, I don't want you to die Miley."

"No, please Oliver, noone likes me and now that Lilly is gone there is noone else to live for."

Oliver pulled her up and held her in his arms.

"That's not true Miley, there is me, you can live for me, you have to live for me."

"Why Oliver there is no reason."

"Because I love you Miley, that's why"

Miley looked up into his eyes.

"What? Oliver are you serious?"

"Yes Miley I am, I loved you for a long time but I did not realize it until a minute ago when I was about to lose you."

"Oh Oliver you are the greatest person on the planet and I really want to be able to love you back but will Lilly not here I don't see how I can be here too."

"You don't know that Lilly is gone, all we know is that her body started to do some funky stuff when you touched her."

"But the machines started beeping and going crazy and it was all because I touched her, Oh Oliver its all my fault."

"No Miley its not your fault at all"

He looked into her big brown eyes and wished he could do something to ease her pain. He loved her so much but he felt that there was nothing he could do for her.

Miley watched Oliver and he gazed into her eyes.

"But then why did they start to beep like crazy?"

But Oliver did not answer, instead he leaned over and kissed her right on the lips.

Miley pulled back stunned. She looked at Oliver and his eyes told her that every thing was ok and that he really did mean to kiss her. She leaned forward and kissed him back. As there lips met Miley burst back into tears. Not just because of Lilly but because she was happy too.

"_Ring, Ring." _

Miley shook as she turned away from Oliver and answered the phone.

"Hello"

"Honey, you need to get down here right now, it's a good thing trust me, Lilly might be waking up and you need to be here so that you are the first face she sees."

"Your not kidding me are you, I'm not going back if something bad is going to happen," Miley felt more tears stream down her face.

"I'm not joking honey; she really might be waking up. You are her best friend, you need to be here."

"Fine, Oliver and I are on our way."

Miley hung up the phone and turned back to Oliver tears still streaming down her face.

"My dad says that Lilly might be waking up. I really don't want to go but I think I need to."

Oliver leaned over and wiped the tears off her face with his sleeve. "Come on Miley, what did we just talk about, everything will be alright. Come on, lets go, we'll get through this, together."

Oliver led Miley through the woods and across the many fields and roads that led back to the hospital. He led her through the large white double doors, past the starch white lobby, and into one of the large metal elevators. When they stepped off the elevator he led her down the many hallways that went to Lilly's room. They both stopped short when they saw a fairly large number of people standing outside her door. Miley's dad broke away from the bunch and came over to the couple.

"Hey Miley," he said, taking her into a hug, "Lilly's, body went nuts because she responded to your touch. She seemed to recognize you and her body was letting the doctors know that it was time she came back into the world. They rushed over to her just to find that she was perfectly fine. Her brain cell count is miraculously up, which is actually impossible so they think it was human error. But that means she has less chance of having brain damage and more of a chance to remember us all. They predict she will wake up in the next hour or two and I did not know where you were so I called. I'm glad you're here though the doctors say that because she responded to your touch you should be the first person she sees when she awakens. In the mean time, does anyone want anything to eat?"

Miley smiled at her dad and a wave of relief swept over her. She felt like a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "Yea dad, I would love some food, but not this nasty hospital junk. Oliver and I are going to go out and get something to eat. Call us when it's closer to the time when she will wake up."

With that Miley turned and with Oliver's hand in her own she walked out

Miley and Oliver walked into the 24 hour subway. They walked up to the counter were a very tired looking girl stood.

"Hello, may I help you." The girl said in a bored and monotone voice.

"Yes I will have a turkey and cheese on Italian bread with lettuce and tomato, oh, and a little bit of mayo."

Miley stepped aside and let Oliver by her. "Yea, I'll have the meatball grinder with mozzarella cheese." He said

They took there freshly made sandwiches and drinks and sat at one of the tables by the windows. They both unwrapped there sandwiches and as Miley took a bite of hers she looked out the window and then spoke.

"Oliver, about that fight we had, I…."

Oliver cut her off

"It's not important Miley. I was being stupid and was not thinking, you were right. It would be better is Hannah Montana was dating someone else because then people could trace me back to you and then everyone would know your secret. I guess it just bothered me that you were kissing some other guy when I hadn't even kissed you yet."

Miley looked into his eyes and then leaned over and kissed him.

"There," she said, "Now you have kissed me twice."

Oliver smiled at her and they both went back to there sandwiches. About a half an hour later they were sitting on the small bench outside of the subway. It was a chilly night but they both did not feel like going back to the stuffy hospital.

Oliver sat with his arm around Miley. He thought about the past 48 hours and how traumatic it must be for Miley. He was completely torn up inside and he could barely keep it in. What he really wanted to do was go home, curl up on his bed, and cry his eyes out. But he couldn't, at least not until he could afford to be away from Miley. He knew that he was her comfort and he knew that if he broke down she would be even worse.

"_Ring, Ring, Ring" _

Miley fished her phone out of her pocket and answered it.

"Hello?... Oh, hi Zac... Yeah she is doing all right, the doctors say that she should be waking up in about an hour…. Yea, tomorrow would be good…ok, I'll talk to you then….bye…yea, ok…bye.

When she hung up the phone she looked at Oliver.

"That was Zac. When I was talking to him at the party he wanted to do something for Lilly and I told him that the only thin he could do is that she really wanted to meet him, so when she wakes he could come see her. He'll call tomorrow to set up a time."

"Ok," Oliver replied, and then he suddenly burst out laughing.

"What is so funny?" Miley asked, slightly annoyed at the fact that he could laugh at a time like this.

"I was just thinking about the act hat this whole night you were Hannah Montana and now that I realize it, your wig is gone!"

Miley chuckled to herself, "Your right it must have fallen off the cliff."

They sat on the bench a while longer. Miley lay down with her head in Oliver's lap and just looked at the stars. She wished that this whole ordeal had never happened. She wanted to be with Oliver and to have Lilly as a best friend and just go back to normal. School was starting in a few weeks and Miley just did not feel like going. She was going to be a Freshman at Malibu Central High and even though Oliver was going to be there she just did not want to start her whole high school experience with out Lilly.

Oliver reached down all of a sudden, startling Miley.

"Hey look a penny that is heads up. I found a lucky penny, that's got to be a good sign, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Miley responded

"I'm getting bored and tired, it's…..,"Oliver checked his watch, "2:42 in the morning, and I think we should go back to the hospital."

"Ok, and your right, I'm getting tired to."

The couple headed back towards the hospital and when they got there they went up and sat in two of the plastic chairs outside Lilly's room. About 5 minutes later Miley's dad came walking around the corner with a cup of coffee and his cell phone in his hand. He looked up and was startled to see them sitting there.

"Hey you guys, I was just about to call you, the doctor said she could wake up anytime from the next 15 minutes to a half an hour. Though if she does not wake up in 45 minutes

She is going into emergency nerve damage surgery again. He also said that you should go in her room and sit by her bedside so that if she does wake up you will be there."

"Ok," Miley said, "Is there anywhere to get a drink around here, I am really thirsty."

"Yeah, Here is a few dollars, there is a vending machine around the corner, go get you and Oliver something and then meet me in her room."

Miley went to the vending machine and got a diet coke for herself and a root beer for Oliver. She went back and handed the beverage to him and popping open her own drink they walked into Lily's room.

The room was filled with flowers of different kind and cards that were made by the kids she had performed for.

She pulled a chair up to Lilly's bed side but this time she did not touch Lilly at all.

"It's ok Miles," He dad said, "The doctor said that if you touch her it might stimulate her more, but don't freak out is the machines start to go off."

"It's ok, I'll just look," Miley responded

For the second time that night Miley looked upon her friends still face, with out realizing it she reached out and touched her hand. Then she picked up Lilly's hand and squeezed it. But this time, the hand squeezed back.

"Um, dad, I think Lilly is awake, she squeezed my hand."

Her dad jumped up and ran to get the doctor. The doctor came in and watched as Lilly stirred in her bed and opened her eyes.

"Hi" Lilly said out loud, "where am I?"

"Your in the hospital Lilly, you have been for almost 3 months." Miley responded

"Who are you?" Lilly asked

"Lilly….. Lilly it's me Miley, don't you remember me,"


	11. Ideas to help

Lilly stared up at Miley

"Lilly….. Lilly it's me Miley, don't you remember me?"

But all Lilly did is stare at her. The doctor walked up to Lilly's side.

"Hi Lilly," he said, "I am Dr. McDoogal- Morse, but you can call me Dr. M&M. I am your doctor. Do you remember anything at all."

Lilly looked down at the sheets on her bed.

"Well..," She started, "I remember a bright flash of light and the color blue. I remember a girl and a boys face coming out of some fog and I remember hearing sirens. That's it."

She looked up into the doctors face.

"That's very good Lilly, do you think you can put some names to faces. Everyone in this room is your friend and wants to help you. They all love you very, very much."

Lilly looked around the room. She connected eyes with Oliver and then with Miley. She then studies the faces of Jackson and Robbie. Finally she just shook her head.

"That's ok Lilly, if you remember anything just let us know. In the mean time, do you need anything, are you hungry?"

Again Lilly just shook her head.

"Alright, we will be going now, but Nurse Emilee will be here if you need anything, try to stay awake ok. We don't want you slipping into another coma."

Lilly nodded and rested her head back on her pillow. Miley, Oliver, Robbie, Jackson and the doctor all filed out of the room, leaving only the nurse.

Outside of the hospital room, Miley turned to the doctor.

"What is going to happen to Lilly? Will she stay like that forever? What is causing her to forget who we are, I've know her forever, she should not forget me."

"Well, she injured her brain during her accident and the fact that she can remember something is great. She there is a 75 chance that she will recover and be perfectly fine but of course there is the chance that she may have a slight memory problem in the future but I believe that she will be fine. Other than her memory problem she is very healthy. I would not worry if I was you."

"Is there anything we can do to help her remember things. Like, to help her remember faster?" Miley's dad asked.

"Well he brain needs time to heal on its own but one thing you can do is get her into a regular routine that includes things that were in her life before hand. Like if there is something she always eats for breakfast or a pair of pajamas she wears every night. Every little thing counts."

"Ok, thank you we will figure something out."

The group turned away from the doctor and went towards the seating area.

"Ok, you guys, you spent all day with her. You know things that she does a lot." Robbie said

"Well," Oliver started, "She loved the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, she watched it at least 3 times a week, we could bring it in and keep it playing in her room. Oh yeah, she did wear this one pair of pajama's that her mom had to rip out of her hands if she wanted to wash them."

"Oh, she love to skateboard, we should bring it in for her to use if she wants. We should also put pictures of her favorite celebrities around the room including Hannah Montana." Miley suggested.

"Good, these are really good ideas, we should get started on them right away, we could also look for stuff at her house. We should also call her parents and give them an update."

The four of them headed out the door and to there car, they wanted to do anything to help Lilly.

On the car ride home they all sat in silence, worry showed on all there faces. Sniffling could be heard from where Miley was sitting. Oliver hugged her to calm her down.

When they got to Lilly's house they all spread out to get the supplies they needed.

Ten minutes later they reconvened in front of the house.

Jackson was carrying her pillow, her skateboard and a couple books off her shelf.

Miley had her pajamas, a bunch of magazines and a bunch of posters.

Robbie had a couple boxes of Lilly's favorite pop tarts and her slippers.

Oliver had a picture of Lilly's parents, her Ipod, her toothbrush, and her notebook full of stories.

"Alright," Robbie said, "I think we have everything for now so….."

But Miley interrupted him

"Oh, I just remembered, Zac Efron said he would come and see Lilly when she woke up, he said he would bring a bunch of other stars with him. It was Lilly's dream to meet stars. We should go to our house and get my Hannah Montana stuff so that Zac can come right to the hospital."

"That is a terrific idea sweetie but I just realized that it is 6:00 in the morning and we have all been up all night. We are all going to go home and get some sleep, I will pick Oliver up at 12:00 and we will stop to get lunch then go to the hospital. I will drive Oliver home."

Robbie dropped Oliver off at his house and took his own family home. They all ate something and then went to sleep.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

At 9:30 Miley turned over in her bed, her eyes opened and darted over to the large, glowing, green letters of her alarm clock. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, after about 3 and a half hours of sleep her body was tired but her mind was racing and she knew she would never get back to sleep. She stepped out of bed and put on her fuzzy pink and green stripped robe and matching slippers. She slipped down the stairs as not to wake any body. As she turned to the kitchen she saw Jackson sitting on the couch. The T.V was not on but he appeared to be staring right at it. Miley went over and sat down next to him.

"Hey," she whispered

He turned to look at her, he studied the profile of her face and appeared to be building up the courage to speak.

"You know what Miley" He started

She turned to look at him.

"What?" she replied

"I've always seen Lilly when she has come here and I have spoken to her even though our conversations were minimal. I've always just admired her from afar. But these past couple of days I have been thinking so much about her and my life, and your life, without her. I've reached a very strange and slightly shocking conclusion." He paused, unwilling to admit his feelings.

"What Jackson, what is it," Miley said

But he stayed silent.

"Come on Jackson, you know you can tell me, I mean, who am I going to tell, except Oliver that is."

"Well, Miles I guess I don't really know what I think, but all I know is that my life would be very, very hard if she was gone."

"Come on Jackson, don't think like that, we know that she is ok, we saw her for crying out loud. The only problem is that she has difficulty remembering stuff. But the doctor said that there is a very good chance that she will make a full recovery and will remember us all. We just have to help her." At this moment, Miley knew exactly how Jackson felt, she knew what his real feeling were but she would not push him. Right at this moment Miley felt closer than she ever had before to her brother.

Then Jackson did a very unJackson like thing. He moved closer to Miley and put his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and together they both fell back to sleep.


	12. A dream and some visiters

Miley raced through the skate park with a giant smile on her face, she could see her up ahead, long, golden hair and a skate bored in her right hand.

"Lilly" She screamed

She grew closer to the figure, she reached out to grab her wrist. But her fingers went right through it. _No, _she thought, _no, this can't be happening, Lilly can't be gone._ She went to put her hand on Lilly's shoulder but she just past right through it. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She lunged at her but she fell through….. and just kept falling. She was completely surrounded by black. She thought she heard someone calling her name and she began screaming back, she wanted to leave, to get out of the horrible place that had imprisoned her. She did not like falling, feeling as though noone as there to catch her. She continued screaming at the voice that was not even there. She landed in a small jar and a lid was put on the jar. She ran to the edge and banged on it until blood spurted from wounds created by the rough glass. She collapsed to the ground and curled unto a ball, she let the blood flow from her hands and onto the slick glass floor. She felt as though someone was holding her and speaking to her. She liked the feeling, the blood under her dried up and her wounds healed. She looked up into Oliver's big brown eyes and he continued to talk to her. She heard his voice and tried to focus on what was being said.

"Miley, Miley, come on it is time to wake up, it is ok, come on Miley wake up."

She opened her eyes and had a sudden rush of déjà vu as she once again looked into Oliver's eyes.

"Oliver, it was so horrible, Lilly…and then a hole… and then the jar….and then blood."

"It's ok," said Oliver, "Everything is now ok."

She looked around and realized she was in the living room and her dad and brother were there.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"It is 1:53." Her dad answered.

Miley sprang up from her spot on Oliver's lap

"What, we are so late; I thought we were going to the hospital at 12:00, now it's almost 2. Come on lets go."

Robbie grabbed her wrist.

"Wait a second bud, I went to pick Oliver up a 12:00, when we came back here you were still asleep. We started loading the car with stuff for Lilly, then we heard you scream. Oliver has been sitting here for over an hour trying to wake you up. But you were out like a light, you only stopped screaming twice."

"Oh, well can we go now?" Miley asked

"Yes, why don't you go upstairs and get ready to go, we will meet you I the car. On the way we will grab some lunch." Her dad said.

Miley ran up the stairs to shower and change while Oliver, Robbie, and Jackson both finished getting ready to bring stuff to Lilly.

Miley ran out to the car about 20 min later dressed in a simple pair of jean capris and a red tee shirt with red converse. She climbed into the car next to Oliver and surveyed everything they had packed into the car. Robbie drove to the nearest Burger King and went through the drive through. On the way to the hospital then all munched on there food and talked about How they were going to go about helping Lilly remember things.

When they got to the hospital they went I to find the doctor. Dr. M&M told them that Lilly is in the therapy room and now would be a good time to bring all her stuff in so that it would be a surprise to her when she got back. The group all trouped back out to the car to start unloading stuff.

After two trips they all began organizing the room. They changed he sheets on the bed to her bright lime green ones. They put her pillow, pajamas, and slippers on the newly changed sheets. The hung the posters on the wall and put the magazines, note book, books, and Ipod on the table next to her bed. Robbie put the pop tarts in the fridge and her toothbrush in the bathroom. They then put the four Orange chairs from her room around the pool blue table they brought. They put magnets and more pictures on the mini fridge. Finally they placed the small cake on the table and sat back to wait for Lilly to return.

"Wow, you guys, this place looks great. It is probably the best room in the whole hospital." Robbie said.

_Ring, Ring_

Miley excused herself and stepped out into the hallway to take the call.

"Hello?...Oh hi Zac, thanks for calling back….. yes today would be great……4:00?...yea that would be fine….are you bringing people with you…..you are!...how many?….8! Wow that's a lot…of course its ok….yea….ok…see you then….bye."

She went back into the room and told the others the good news.

About 10 minutes later the nurse knocked on the door.

The door creaked open and the nurse rolled Lilly into the room.

"Wow." Lilly said

The nurse took the pajamas off the bed and led Lilly to the bathroom so that she could change.

When Lilly came out she still looked amazed by the sight of her room. She wheeled herself over to the pictures on the wall. They had been carefully placed midway between the wheelchair height and the height of a standing person. Lilly studied the posters carefully. The names had been cut out of them do that she would have to figure it out on her own. She turned to look at Miley.

"Is this Zac Efron?" She asked

Miley nodded and walked over to Lilly. She pointed o a picture of Ricky Ulman.

"Do you know who that is?"

"I don't remember his name, but I recognize him from a T.V show. Phil of the Future I think its called."

"You are right! He is from Phil of the future. His name is Ricky Ulman."

"Right, and that's Ashley Tisdale and that's Dylan and Cole Sprouse." She said, pointing to the posters

"You're right!" Miley said, "You do remember!"

"A little bit," Lilly responded, "I think I remember your name, it started with an H, and the last name is the same as a state."

Miley looked at her dad for advice. He just shook his head and Miley turned back to Lilly. Who had moved and was now studying the other posters.

"Well, that is one of my names; do you remember why I have two names?"

Lilly studied her face and then looked back at the wall where she had been looking at a picture of Hannah Montana.

"Yeah, I think I do remember. You have the alter ego as Hannah Montana and your real name is…." Lilly sat a thought for a second, "Ummm…..oh Miley Stewart! You have not told anyone your Hannah Montana because you want to live a normal life as a teen. I think the only people that know you are Hannah are those that are in this room right now."

"That's right Lilly, Oh, I'm sooo happy you can remember some stuff. But you are right, the only people tha know I am Hannah Montana are here in this room so you have to keep it a secret ok?"

"Don't worry Miley, I remember some stuff, I know not to tell anyone your secret and don't worry I wont tell anyone."

Miley was called out into the hallway by one of the nurses. She got up from where she was kneeling next to Lilly and headed out to talk to the nurse.

"Oh, my god Miley you will never believe who is here." The nurse said excitedly

"Come on, spit it out, tell me."

"Zac Efron and a bunch of other stars are here to see Lilly. What should I tell them?"

"Oh shoot they are here already. Ummmm….. Ok, tell them to take a seat and wait because Lilly is being given her medicine. I will come out when we are ready ok?"

"Ok." The nurse hurried off in the direction of the nurse's station and Miley rushed back into the room.

She closed the door behind her.

"Hurry guys, they are here." Miley said

"Who is here?" asked Lilly

"Uh… noone, actually it is a surprise but right now I think you should go change into this outfit." Miley told Lilly and took an outfit out of the duffle bag they brought.

Lilly went into the bathroom to change and apply a little makeup. Miley went into the other bathroom to change into Hannah Montana.

Miley walked out of the bathroom and adjusted her wig. Her dad assured her he would make sure Lilly was all set and told Miley to go and get everybody. Miley stepped out to the hall and walked around the corner to the waiting room.

"Hey!" Zac Efron noticed Miley and called her over.

"Hey, everybody." Miley answered and she walked over to meet Zac in the middle of the waiting room. He leaned over and kissed Miley on the cheek.

She blushed quickly but got over the moment and said hi to everyone else who Zac brought. He ended up bringing Ashley Tisdale, Brenda Song, Dylan and Cole Sprouse, Lucas Grabeel, Monique Coleman, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, and Corbin Bleu. Miley went around and gave everyone a hug. She led them all over to Lilly's room's door. Miley attempted to peek into the room to see if Lilly was ready. She saw her dad give her a signal.

"Ok everybody, are you ready. Now Lilly is awake and she feels perfectly fine. The only problem that she has is she has a hard time remembering things. I know she remembers you, Zac, and she remembers Ashley but it might take her a couple minutes to remember all of you." Miley prepped them for there visit.

"It's ok Hannah, we have visited all kinds of people in hospitals and we are totally prepared." Lucas said

"Yea," agreed Dylan, "Plus she is your friend so she has to be cool."

"Oh, Dylan that was so nice, and yes she is a really cool person. She loves to skate board and she loves to all of you guys." Miley nodded towards the group of people as if to ask them if they are ready.

"Come on, Hannah, everything will be ok, we are so excited to meet her and I'm sure she is just waiting to see why the heck you are being so secretive. So, let's go." Brenda assured her.

"Ok, wait right here" Miley opened the door and stepped into room slightly closing the door behind her so that Lilly could not see who was behind it.

"Hey Mil..Hannah? Why are you Hannah?" Lilly asked in a half whisper.

"Well, my very good friend Lilly, I have a very, very cool surprise for you. Are you ready?" Miley said

"Um, I guess so." Lilly was very confused

"Well Lilly I present to you, some very good friends of mine, Zac Efron and company." Miley announced as she swung the door open.

Zac stepped into the room and everyone else poured into the room behind him. Lilly was sitting there with the look of pure surprise on her face. She just stared at Zac with her mouth wide open.

"Hi Lilly," said Zac as he walked over to her, he knelt down so that he was level with her and he took her hand, "I'm Zac and I am very glad to finally meet you."

"I..I..I I know, I mean, Hi." Lilly stuttered.

Zac did not register her being embarrassed at all. He simply smiled at her and turned to the group behind him.

"Do you remember who these people are?" Zac asked her

"Um, well that is Ashley Tisdale," said Lilly, pointing to each of them in turn, "and that is Vanessa Anne Hudgens, and they are Dylan and Cole. But I can't remember their names.

Lilly looked as though she was thinking very hard.

'It is ok Lilly, we won't tell you so maybe you will think of them later." Lucas said

"You know Lilly, I have to say that this is, by far, the coolest hospital room I have ever seen and trust me, I have been in a lot of hospitals." Ashley said to Lilly

"Thanks," Lilly said, "But it was Hannah that decorated and brought all of my stuff here. I was going to be transferred to the long term ward but when I woke up they decided it was unnecessary. So they decided to keep me here. I will still be here for a while though so Hannah brought my stuff here."

"Wow Hannah you are so thoughtful." Vanessa said

"Well, it was all for a friend."

Oliver cleared his throat from behind Miley.

"Oh yeah, you guys this is my other best friend, Oliver." Miley introduced Oliver to everyone.

"Hey Oliver," Corbin said, "It is nice to meet you."

Corbin turned back to Lilly, "So, Lilly, what is on your agenda today?"

'Well I just finished taking my medication and later I have to go for therapy. But most of my therapy is here. All I really need to do is regain my memory and Hannah and her dad and Oliver all brought this stuff here to try and jump start my memory. You all helped me a lot. Just having you come here reminded me that I love High School Musical and Disney Channel and it helped me because I had to think of your names, which I remember now. You are Monique, you are Lucas, and you are Corbin."

"Wow, very good Lilly. I guess we did help." Monique said

The group continued to talk for a while longer. They sat around Lilly's table and pulled more chairs out of the nurse's lounge. They talked about acting, about being sick and hospitals, and about Lilly. Two hours later a nurse came in and told them that visiting hours were over and that they had to leave. They all decided that Zac, Ashley, and Vanessa would go to Miley's house with her dad, Jackson and Oliver to visit some more. Everyone else had to go home. Robbie made sure Lilly was ok for the night and then he led the others out to there awaiting limos.

All 6 of them squished into the back of the limo. The teens all talked about acting, crazed fans, and singing. Robbie sat back and listened to their conversation.

"I think that acting can be a little overrated. I mean, yeah, you became famous if the movie is good and you get almost whatever you want. That people don't see is that sometimes it is hard to catch a break and people don't always give you what you want, you have to pay for things." Zac said

"What, are you saying that you did not catch a break and now you are blaming show business." Vanessa teased.

Zac swatted her playfully on the arm.

"No, I'm just saying that sometimes fans say that they wish they were us but they don't know the half of it."

"Are you saying you don't like showbiz?" Ashley asked

"No I'm just stating…." He started

Miley put her hand on his arm and interrupted him.

"What I think Zac is trying to say is that fans like us and worship us for reasons that don't really exist. What the fans think is reality, like the glamour, magazine covers and red carpet moments, is really not."

"Thank you Hannah that is exactly what I was trying to say."

Miley smiled but when she caught Oliver's eye he had a hurt and confused look on his face.

The limo pulled up to the Stewart's house and they all got out and went into the house. Robbie ordered a massive amount of Chinese food and sent the limo driver to go get it.

When he got back with the food they all grabbed heir orders and settled themselves onto the couch to watch a movie. Ashley and Vanessa sat on the floor with Oliver in between them. Zac and Miley sat on the couch. Half way through the movie Step Up Zac put his arm around Miley. She shifted a little and got into a comfortable position. She felt a little odd seeing as her boyfriend was sitting right below her but still she was Hannah and not Miley and Hannah liked Zac. Plus he was really, really, cute. She looked over at him and he smiled at her. He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. She was slightly shocked but relaxed under his touch. He broke the kiss and smiled at her again she slightly smiled back. During the rest of the movie Miley was snuggled down into the crook of Zac arm and completely enjoyed herself.

When the movie was over Miley looked around to find Oliver flirting with Ashley and Vanessa so bad that they looked like they wanted to chop his head off.

"Oliver….OLIVER," He looked up at her, "Stop chewing their ears off. Does anyone want dessert?"

"O yes, that sounds great, what is there for dessert?" Zac piped up

'Well I think there is some chocolate ice cream in the freezer and some leftover cake. But I was thinking we should go out."

"Where is there an open place on the whole Californian coast? I mean it is 7:23…. Ok never mind, where do we want to go." Vanessa said

"Well I know of a very good place where my brother works. It is called Rico's and it is by the beach. I don't think my brother is working tonight but there food is really good."

"Ok, we can go there that sounds really good.' Ashley said

Everyone else agreed so they all got there shoes back on and went down to the beach. They each ordered some kind of dessert and went down near the shore. They sat in the sand and ate there food. Oliver continued his nonstop flirting, Miley looked over at him from where she sat with Zac, she felt very hurt that Oliver was turning his attention towards other woman. Then she realized that she was doing to him with Zac. She sat up suddenly.

"You all need leave right now."

"What, Hannah what is wrong?" Zac asked

"Oh nothing, you just need to leave, I, uh, I forgot that I have a really early appointment tomorrow and I need to go to bed early. So, um you need to leave."

"But it is only 7:40; you have to go to bed now?" Zac asked again

"I, um, I need to clean my room before I go to bed and that will take me along time so you need to go. I will bring the limo around for you. Anyway, if people notice we are here they will go crazy and trust me you do not want that" Miley opened her cell phone and told the limo driver to come around

"Um, ok Hannah we can leave if that is what you want."

Ashley, Vanessa, and Zac all walked back up the beach and into the limo. When they drove away Miley ripped off her wig and turned back to Oliver.

"Oh Oliver I am so, so sorry I know how you feel now and I fell really, really stupid and I am so sorry."

"What are you talking about?" Oliver asked looking very concerned

"About me kissing Zac at the party. You were so mad at me and I did not understand why and now I know. Seeing you today with Ashley and Vanessa and I felt so jealous and even though I was not Miley, I was Hannah so you weren't cheating I felt like you were and….."

"Miley…..Miley stop you are rambling, it is ok, I am so sorry that I made you feel so horrible but you did not have to make them leave."

"I don't know Oliver I am really sorry, but I just felt so horrible about making you feel horrible and I just wanted the feeling to leave."

Oliver shut her up by pressing his lips against hers. Miley kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled her into him and pressed his hands against her waist.

Miley broke the kiss and smiled up at Oliver. She never noticed how beautiful his eyes are.

"So what is our solution?" Oliver said

"Solution to what?" Miley asked

"To you being Hannah Montana and Zac most likely asking you out."

"Oh, yeah, that. Well, I think that Hannah can go out with Zac. But we can not show any kind of affection to another person while we are together. But you mister, not having another identity, are not able to flirt with any other girl unless they are a star and I am not there. But if Zac asks Hannah out I will say yes but I will not ask him out. Is that ok?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan."

Oliver kissed her again and they started to walk back to Miley's house, Oliver's hand around her waist.


	13. A big decision and a horrible night

Oliver left Miley at her house and strolled home, taking the short cut through the neighbor's yard. He liked the arrangement they had made. It suited him and he trusted Miley to not take her relationship with Zac very far. _Oh no,_ he thought, _What if her relationship with Zac got serious and her relationship with me was serious. Then in like 6 or 7 years he could ask her to marry him and I could ask her to marry me and then what would she do. She can't really be two people. She would have to tell Zac that she was really Miley. But then who would she choose? Ohhhh, this could get ugly. _

Oliver pondered over these thoughts until he reached his front door. He told his mom he was home before running up to his room with the house phone in his hand. He hastily dialed Miley's number. When she answered he filled her in on all the thoughts he had been thinking during there time apart. Miley reassured him hat is her relationship with Zac got any more serious she would come right out and tell him the truth. Oliver hung up the phone with a big sigh of relief. He felt as though Miley knew how he felt and he was certain she knew what to do.

Oliver called the hospital and talked to Lilly for a while. Apparently Jackson had just left after being there for quite sometime. She was beginning to suspect that he liked her more than his sister's best friend. Oliver agreed that he always seemed to be a little nicer to Lilly than he was to him. They discussed there visit with Zac and the gang. They talked about Miley and him being together. After a while Oliver got off the phone with Lilly and got ready for bed. He took a quick shower and read the comics out of the newspaper. Then he went to bed.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Miley closed the door behind her as she stepped back into the house after saying goodbye to Oliver. She really liked the conclusion they came to that night about there relationship. She trusted Oliver not to make any stupid mistakes. She just hoped she could trust herself with Zac. He was so cute and he really seemed to like her. It would break her heart the day she would have to dump him because she was getting more serious with Oliver. Of course she would choose Oliver over Zac right? She was not too sure of her self. But when Oliver called her later and voiced his thoughts over the whole Zac and her matter that is what she told him. She was hoping he would understand and he did. When she got off the phone with Oliver she heard the front door close and footsteps coming up the stairs. She walked in the hallway to find Jackson slip into his room. She followed him and asked him where he had been. Apparently he had just gotten back for the hospital from visiting Lilly. Miley was starting to think he liked Lilly more than just his sister's best friend. Jackson denied the whole think but he would not make eye contact with her so she was pretty sure she was correct.

After finishing bugging Jackson Miley went and took a shower. She let the water run down her back and she relaxed under the pressure of the water. She had never felt happier in her life and she just wished she could freeze time so that her happiness was permanent. Miley stepped out of the shower and slipped on her Tinker bell pajama pants and lime green tank top. She lay on her bed and read her book, My Sister's Keeper, when she finished the chapter she turned out the light and went to sleep.

Miley woke up and rolled over she yawned, stretched and got up. She did not care what time it was she just wanted to get up and go see Lilly. She dressed quickly into jeans and a tank top and rushed down the stairs. She stopped suddenly when she got to the kitchen seeing noone was there. She stole a glance at the kitchen clock. Seeing it was 8:45 she plopped down onto the couch. She switched on the television and flipped through the channels but nothing interesting caught her eye. The song Jump On It reached her ears and she bounced up to answer the Hannah Phone.

"Yola, Hannah here."

"Hey Hannah, I am glad you are awake."

"Oh hey, why are you calling me at this early hour?"

"Well, I was just wondering what you were doing today because I just wanted to go see Lilly again. She is so nice and I kinda feel bad for her. I just want to help her and, plus, I want to see you."

"Well…. Lilly has a very full day, she has about 4 tests scheduled so they told us that noone could visit, but, we could do something tonight."

"Ohhh, you mean like a date."

"Well yeah kinda"

"Ok I will pick you up at 6:30."

Ok, I will see you then… bye"

"Bye"

Miley hung up the phone and fell back onto the couch in a dream sort of state. She was going of her first date with Zac and she was so excited.

She ran up stairs to change but when she got to her bed room she remembered that it was only 9 in the morning so she collapsed on her bed. What was she supposed to do all day?

Around noon Miley was sitting on her bed staring at the phone in her lap. She had talked to Oliver about an hour ago and after hearing what he had to say again and how he felt she decided to make a big decision but she just couldn't build up enough courage to press the buttons on the phone. She had been sitting there for almost forty five minutes trying to decide what to say. She finally got enough courage to press the phone number into the phone but as soon as she held the phone up to her ear and heard it ring she shut it off. 15 minutes later she decided to actually go through with it and let the phone ring continuously. Someone picked up and Miley took a deep breath.

"Hello?... Hi….yeah, I'm good…. I just had something to tell you…..yeah, ok, well, I umm….I…I am not really Hannah Montana….I am a girl that lived in Malibu by the name of Miley Stewart and my alter ego is Hannah Montana, just thought you needed to know…..what?...no I'm telling the truth….wai-…"

Miley turned off the phone and started to cry. He hadn't believed her and now she had no idea what she was supposed to do. She sat crying for a while longer until she had to get up and start to get ready for her date that night. She got changed and headed downstairs to wait for Zac to come. A few minutes later the door bell rang and she went to the door to get it.

A few hours later Miley stood on her front porch looking up at Zac after the best date she had ever been on.

"I had a great time tonight Hannah" Zac said

"Me too" She responded

"Ya know, it was weird, this girl called me today that sounded just like you and she told me that you weren't really you but some girl in Malibu that has an alter ego. It was creepy so I told her that she was nuts and then I hung up on her."

Miley looked up at him and then burst into tears for the second time that day.

"Hannah what is wrong, did that girl hurt you, come on tell me what happened."

Miley did not respond but instead reached up and pulled the wig off her head.

He recoiled slightly, but did not speak. He looked from her brown, curly locks to her scared and nervous face.

"I can't believe this," he said at last, "you lied to me this whole time, your not really a celebrity at all are you, its just a big act to get attention."

He turned and began to walk away but Miley ran after him and grabbed his wrist before he could go very far.

"That is not even close to the truth Zac, you don't get it, I really am Hannah Montana, and that really is me singing. My Dad was once a famous country singer and I always wanted to be just like him. When I turned 11 he stopped making music and instead helped me with my career, I wanted to sing but when I saw all the attention other fans got and the things in the tabloids and the mobs of fans I decided that I wanted to be normal and famous at the same time. My godmother, Aunt Dolly, came up with the idea of having an alter ego. Hannah Montana was born and I had my first concert on my 12th birthday. It was great, I got to be famous and sing but I also got to have a normal life and have friend that liked me for who I am and not just because I am famous. But last year both of my friends found out who I really was and they accepted it. Then I started going out with Oliver and you at the same time but not really because you were dating Hannah and he was dating Miley but it didn't seem right to me so….now we are here…that's my story."

Zac studied her face a while longer before standing up and leaving with the promise that he would call her tomorrow and that he just needed time to think. When he had left Miley went into her room and collapsed on her bed and without changing she drifted into a restless sleep.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Miley awoke to the buzz of her phone. She had set it on vibrate last night and when she fell asleep she forgot to turn it off. She opened her eyes to see a sticky note stuck to her forehead. She took it off and put it on the table next to her buzzing phone. She flipped open the phone to see the message: 42 Missed Calls. The phone glowed brightly into the dark room. She scrolled through the list of calls she had missed. Most of them were from Lilly, some were from Oliver. But there was not even one frorm Zac. She flipped the phone closed and fell back onto her bed. She did not feel like talking to anyone. She fell back into a restless sleep. Still in her clothes

The sun shone through her eyelids and she put her pillow over head to block it out. She did not want to face the world. It was just too hard. She glanced over at the clock, 8:16. She groaned. She had only been asleep for 7 hours if you did not count the hours she had been up tossing and turning. She rolled over towards her desk and looked at her computer, the screen was flashing with dozens on instant messages waiting for her to answer. She was confused. If it was only eight o'clock in the morning then why did she have so many missed calls and so many IM's? She shrugged it off. It was probably just Lilly. Something must have happened last night. Miley went into her closet and changed into pajamas then she went to the mini fridge in the closet and took out a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. She climbed back into her warm bed with a spoon and dug into the creamy, cold ice cream. It immediately made her feel better. After it was gone she snuggled down and went back to sleep.

When she up, she sat up and screamed.


	14. Comfort from the wrong people

Lilly and Oliver were both sitting at the base of her bed. When her screams quieted and she relaxed she questioned them.

"What are you guys doing here, you scared the bageezes out of me? And when did you get out of the Hospital?!"

"We were worried about you." Lilly said, "And I got out Sunday afternoon, Lucas, Monique, and Ashley came down to help me out. It was pretty cool. I am remembering a lot more now but I still have a way to go, like my whole childhood. But that does not matter. What happened to you?!"

"Yeah, I mean, you haven't answered any of our calls." Oliver put in

"Come on guys give me a break, I've been really tired, I went to bed at midnight for goodness sakes."

"Yeah, two days ago." Oliver replied

"What!?" Miley jumped up, "It has been two days?"

"Sheesh, calm down Miley. Yes it has been two days. We were so worried about you. We must have called you at least 50 times each."

"I have been on the phone for almost two days strait, well except when I was in school. Your dad just said to leave you alone," Oliver voice softened, "We finally got so worried that we came over, we have been here for about 3 hours now. We tried to wake you up but you did not budge. You looked so sad and in pain, you kept tossing and turning. It scared me."

"We were almost about to call 911." Lilly still looked worried

Miley reached over and flipped open her still blinking phone. The number of missed calls has increased to 256.

"I think you guys called me a little more than 50 times each."

She scrolled through the numbers looking for one particular one. Then she saw it, Zac had called her around 2 in the afternoon the day before and again just a few hours earlier.

"Hey, did the phone ring while you guys were here?'

"Yeah, but we didn't answer it."

"Ok, just wondering," Miley answered, "So have I really been asleep for two whole days?"

"Yeah." They said at the same time

Lilly started, "By 1 in the afternoon on Sunday we started wondering what had happened to you. Then we came over at 4 but your dad would not let us see you. He said you had been asleep the whole day and something terrible had happened the previous night but he would not tell us what."

"Then on Monday we came over right before school but your dad said you weren't going and we stopped by right after school. Your dad still would not let us in. Then at 11 o'clock this morning he finally let us come up and see you, we have been sitting here ever since." Oliver finished

"Oh, also, I told Zac that I am Hannah Montana and he broke up with me, I think, and was completely shocked and should possibly never talk to me again. Thanks a lot." Miley's voice was thick with sarcasm

"Whoa, that's why you have been cooped up in here this whole time, Zac broke up with you. That's major, I completely understand now." Lilly butted in also using a thick tone of sarcasm

"Come on Lilly, it is Zac Efron and I did not even know it had been two days I thought only a few hours had gone by."

"Yeah, whatever" She looked angry

Miley phone buzzed from where it sat on the bedside table. Zac's number appeared on the screen and Miley squealed with joy.

"We will just be leaving now, come on Oliver." Lilly grabbed Oliver's wrist and pulled him towards the door. He leaned over and kissed Miley on the cheek quickly before following Lilly out the door.

Miley flipped open her phone.

"Hello?" Miley answered the phone

"Hi Hannah" Zac said

"Umm I'm sorry for springing that on to you suddenly but I knew that I had to tell you because it was not fair."

"No it was not fair. How did you think I felt Hannah, standing with the girl of my dreams and all of a sudden finding out that she is nothing I thought she was."

"But that's not true, I am everything you thought I was. Hannah has the same personality and beliefs as Miley we just have different looks.

"Then who are you really?"

"Truthfully I don't even know anymore, it used to be that I was really Miley and that my alter ego was Hannah Montana but now I am not so sure. I put my heart and soul into Hannah that it is almost like she has taken over my life."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I don't really know but I really wish I did. Are you still mad at me?"

"I don't know, Let me know when you find your true self but right now the whole thing is still in the processing stage. I have to go now. Call me when you figure out your own life and then we will figure out ours.

"Ok, bye."

Miley hung up the phone and thought about their conversation. He was right to be angry at her she had basically lied to him about being Hannah but she still could not help thinking that he was taking it a little out of proportion. She had told Lilly and Oliver and they had not freaked out about it but they had not been dating her so it was a little different but still.


	15. Starting school and some more surprises

Miley truly dreaded the start of school. It was the beginning of 10 grade and after a year of already being in the high school and knowing what it was about she was not excited. Sure, she lived for all the gossip and spending all day in one place with her friends. But the school work and homework and pressure of midterms and finals just did not agree with her. School was to start in one week and Miley had already gone shopping for every single thing one girl could need for school, supplies and clothes. Now, with a week left until school, she was bored out of her mind.

_Ring, Ring_

Miley reached for her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Miley, are you as bored as I am?"

"Lilly this is the forth time you have called me just to ask me that we need to do something."

"We could go to the mall"

"But that will make me want to spend even more money and since I am already broke that is not a good thing."

"Right, ok, well, we could go to the beach or something."

"I am yawning as you speak."

"It is the end of summer and we have done everything there is to do. WHAT NOW?"

"I have no idea. We could just talk?"

"Ok about what…..Have you and Zac talked at all?"

"Yeah I have talked to him a couple of time and he seems to have adjusted to the idea. We have decided to be friends. I know that sounds lame but that is all we could come up with."

"Nah, it's not that lame, I would have done the same thing."

"Yeah, it's best for the both of us."

"Do you and Oliver have anything planned for this glorious last week of summer?"

"Not really, we are going to Hannah Montana's end of summer bash together but of course I will be singing so it won't be that much."

"Cool."

"Yeah."

"So….."

"So… Mall?"

"Meet you there in 15 minutes."

"Kay, bye,"

Miley stood at the bus stop and sighed to her self. They had already been in school about a month and she jus could not stand it. School was no the thing for her and she knew that as soon as she graduated she was going to become a full time celebrity and not go to collage. But some where in the back of her head she wished there was another way, a way that would not pull her totally away from her normal life as just Miley. She climbed onto the bus and took her normal seat, three back from the driver on the right side. She pulled a book from her bag and started to read it. A couple stops later someone sat down next to her but she ignored it, the bus usually filled up and by the end of the trip seats were limited.

As the bus pulled up the front of the school, beside the others, she slid the book back into the Hannah Montana covered messenger bag and swung it onto her shoulder before standing up and walking off the bus.

She walked down the hall to her locker. Around her kids were whispering a little more than usual and huddled to get her in tight groups. Miley ignored it figuring that there had been another Hannah Montana sighting or something. She reached her locked and grabbed a hold of her bright green letter lock and entered her combo: HMGRL. She swung open the metal door and began getting the books she needed for class that day.

"Miley…Hey Miley!" Someone yelled.

She looked to see Lilly bound up to her from across the hall.

"Miley did you hear…." Lilly's mouth dropped and she stared at something that was behind Miley.

"Lilly? What is it?" Miley asked her

Lilly did not speak but just stared. Miley rolled her eyes and spun around

"Jake!?"


	16. Hiding from the world

He smiled at her.

"Hey Miley."

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I came back."

Miley turned and ran. She looked for the first room she could find and went in. It was the Apple Computer Lab. Noone was in the room and all the lights were off, Miley locked the door behind her and made her way to the farthest corner of the room. She crawled under the desk and curled herself up into a tight ball in the corner. She sat there, tears silently streaming down her face, and she buried herself deep into her thoughts.

Jake had left for his four month stint in Romania about six months before Lilly's accident. Once the four months were up Miley had given up hope of ever seeing him again and had turned her fancy over to Oliver. After she and Oliver had been going out for about five weeks Hannah Montana got an email from Jake's Manager. Jake had decided to buy a house in Romania and film the third and fourth seasons of Zombie High, he asked if Hannah would like to become a regular member of the show. Miley had decided to decline the offer and for a while all of America felt a little pull at their hearts as they watched Jake's character have to learn that his love, Zaranda Princess of the undead, will never return from the after life to be with him and his heart was broken. Miley felt slightly bad but then she got over it when she remembered that Jake never came back for her. Now he was back and with out a warning. He had no right to just barge back into her life.

She huddled farther into the corner and cried and cried until she fell asleep.

A light shone through Miley's eyelids and she opened her eyes and squinted. The lights in the computer lab had been turned on and a teacher was going through some papers in the Computer Maintenance office. As soon as she had her back turned Miley bolted. She peeked her head out the door and looked around noone was around, they were all in class. Miley tiptoed down the hall and into one of the deserted girls bathrooms all the way at the west end of the school. There are multiple ghost stories about the bathrooms and how they are haunted. Most of the stories were bogus but one or two actually sounded like they really happened. Miley hesitated for a second before swinging open the door to the bathroom and locking herself in the last stall in the row. She pulled the sweatshirt she was wearing over her head and put it over the toilet. She sat down and pulled a book out of her bag and opened it. She felt like crying again but it seemed her tears had dried up. She leaned back and tried to become amerced in her book.

She looked up from her book as she heard foot steps outside the bathroom door. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and flipped it open, 11:54. The lunch bell must have rung but Miley was not very hungry so she just went back to her book. Soon the footsteps and voices faded from outside and Miley assumed that everyone was in the cafeteria. She went to switch her position when she heard voices from outside the bathroom door. It was Lilly, Oliver and Jake. They sounded like they were arguing but she could not make out there words. She leaned forward and barely made out their discussion on who should go in first. Finally the door creaked open and Miley scrambled back to the toilet. She positioned herself on to of the tank with her feet under her and her bag on her lap. She did not want whoever it was to know she was there.

"Miley?" Lilly's voice rang out, "Are you here"

The door creaked open a little wider as Lilly stepped fully into the room.

Miley listened as Lilly told Oliver to come in. Jake tried to but they both told him to stay out.

"Miley" Oliver called.

The two of them checked each stall door.

"This one is locked," Lilly said from outside the stall Miley was in. She crouched down to look under it just as Miley had suspected. The stalls were very old; they were the ones that had been installed when the school had first opened in 1932. They reached almost all the way to the floor leaving only a three or four inch gap unlike the newer ones that had much bigger spaces at the bottom. Lilly retreated back to the upright position.

"There is no one in there." She said to Oliver.

"Nu'uh she has got to be, the stalls only lock from the inside and we searched he entire school. Oh…and remember last year she hid from dandruff Danny by sitting on the top part of the toilet, that's probably what she is doing." Oliver responded

Miley cringed, he had figured it out.

"Oooo, I know what we could do, she has got to have her cell phone, just call it and if it rings they we know she is in there." Lilly said as she took out her phone and punched in Miley's number.

Miley quickly flipped open her phone and punched the volume button a couple times until it hit vibrate. She then buried it deep in her bag just as it started vibrating in her hand.

Lilly snapped her phone shut.

Oliver sighed, "I guess you were right she is not here."

They both stared back towards the door. Miley took her cell phone back out of her bag and flipped it open to change it back so that it was not on vibrate. She fumbled it and it slipped from her fingers and hit the floor with a clatter.

"Did you here that?" Lilly asked


	17. The box

Miley's cell phone was spinning wildly around on the pink tiled floor. It spun its way towards the door of the stall. More foot steps could be heard and then Miley looked down to see a hand reach under the door and grope around until clasping on to the phone and pulling it out.

"Hey Oliver this is Miley's phone" Lilly said

"Miley... you have got to come out," Oliver waited but no noise came from the bathroom stall, "Please come out Miley, for me. Please. Jake is not here, we told him to leave and if he come back we will just kick him out again. Please Miley Please."

Tears started streaming down Miley's face as she heard Oliver's pleading words, "I can't." She croaked out.

"Yes you can Miley, it is going to be ok, just unlock the door ok." Lilly said

Miley reached forward and spun the lock until it clicked. As soon as Lilly heard the click she burst through the door and embraced Miley. Lilly just stood and hugged Miley, like she was soaking up Miley's pain. Oliver walked over and pushed Miley's hair out of her face and kissing her on the head gently.

She buried her face into his shoulder and continued to cry

After ridding the tears from her cheeks and the redness from her eyes she worked up the courage to actually attend the classes she was supposed to be in, ignoring Jake the entire time.

Because she had spent the majority of her time in school crying the end of the day bell rang out through the halls after only two 35 min classes. The hall became flooded with students all ready to go home. Miley stopped by her locker and fished around in it to find the books she needed that night. She tried to find her history book but it was no where to be found and as she tried to get her three ring binder untangled from her new scarf all of notes from Lilly, old water bottles, library book late passes, tampons, and extra lip glosses rained down on top of her and scatter themselves all over the floor. She heaved a huge sigh and bent down to clean up the mess.

"Wow, what happened here?"

"Thanks Lilly, your help is appreciated." Miley said through clenched teeth.

Lilly bent down and help Miley round up the rest of her stuff. They shoved it back into the top of her locker and Miley slammed it shut hoping nothing would fall out before it closed. Then they headed to their bus.

"Hey Miley, I missed you today."

Miley spun around, "Go away Jake."

She turned back around and continued toward her bus, Lilly in tow. But Jake jumped in front of herm blocking the path.

"Come on Miley, what is up. I came here hoping to surprise you but as soon as you see my face you run and hide from me for the rest of the day. What gives?"

He took a step toward her but she stepped back.

"Just leave me alone Jake." Miley brushed past him and went to go up the bus stairs. She turned back to Jake. "You know what, you have no idea what you did to me or how you made me feel. You have no right to go away, say you're going to be back in 4 months and then never turn up. Yeah sure, you had your "manager" call me and tell me but it would have been nice to here it from you."

"Hey I tried ok, but it was hard working over there and I could barely find time to brush my teeth let alone take 10 or 15 minutes to talk to you. Because you always talk so much on the phone….."

"ME TALK TO MUCH. THAT'S YOUR EXUSE. WELL I GOT NEWS FOR YOU BUDDY. THAT IS A PRETTY FRIKEN BAD EXCUSE AND IF YOU HAD THE INTENTION OF COMING BACK HERE AND HOPING I WOULD JUST FALL RIGHT INTO YOUR ARMS AND SAY THAT I LOVE YOU AND THE WORLD WOULD GO BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE, YOU WERE A THOUSAND TIMES WRONG…. NEWS FA- LASH I HAVE A BOYFRIEND AND JUST SO YOU KNOW… ITS NOT YOU."

Miley turned her back on Jake's shocked face and followed Lilly onto the bus just as its doors closed and it drove off. They found seats near the front of the crowded bus. For half of the bus ride Lilly was silent and that really surprised Miley. But then she piped up.

"That was amazing you know."

"What was?"

"What you said to Jake. You really stood up to him and now I don't think he will ever bother you again"

Miley turned towards Lilly.

"Ya know, I kinda want to be friends with him but he hurt me too much so I don't think I will ever be able to go back to liking him let alone loving him. Its amazing what a little time apart can do to a person."

"You really don't think you could love him anymore?" Lilly asked.

"He would have to do something major to make up the pain he caused me these past months. Plus, I told him when you were sick and he never called nor emailed me back. I truly think he stopped caring. I also have Oliver and right now I would never leave him."

The bus pulled up to the stop sign at the end of their street and they hopped off. The walk up the road was quiet until they reached Lilly's front walk.

"So, I have a Hannah thing on Saturday, are you ready to get back in on the action?" Miley asked.

"I have never been more ready for something in my life," Lilly answered a smile taking over her face, "But what to wear…" She added as she pretended to stroke a beard as though she was thinking.

"I guess this means we will have to go shopping."

"But I don't have any money." Lilly said dropping her hands to her sides.

"Not shopping in the mall silly." Miley smiled, "I meant shopping in the Hannah closet."

"Oooo, yeah fun." Lilly jumped up and down.

"How about you come over on Friday night to go "shopping" and then you can sleepover cause the thing is an all day thing."

"Sounds like a plan!"

The girls parted ways, Lilly into her house and Miley up the street to hers. She dropped her backpack in the living room and headed up the stairs to her room, Jake's words ringing in her ears.

_I came here hoping to surprise you, surprise you, surprise you but as soon as you see my face you run and hide, run and hide, run and hide from me for the rest of the day. What gives? What gives? What gives?_

She crawled onto her bed and sobbed. The tears flowed heavily and her face soon became streaked with makeup for the second time that day.

Miley huddled into the corner where her bed me the wall. She pulled the blanket up over her knees and snuggled down, surrounded by mounds of pillows and various objects that she had pulled out of the box under her bed that she kept for time like this. She had things like tissue boxes, the extra remote to her T.V and an assortment of food. She sobbed into her most favorite pillow, the one that her mom had made for her the day she had redone her room when she was 8. It was a bright purple with a neon orange fringe all along the outside. It was a very used pillow, with mascara and tear stains that would never come out and lighter spots where it had been bleached because she had spilled a chocolate strawberry and banana smoothie on it, the food she ate when she was sad. Now she hugged it close to her as she cried.

Her brother came in once to tell her that the news of her screaming match with Jake was flying around school and that he was proud of her for standing up to him like that because he is a "dirty, nasty person who smells like cucumbers and ice cream mixed together" (Huh?)

Her dad came up twice too. Once to see how she was because Jackson had told him what happened and the second time to bring her a chocolate, strawberry and banana smoothie.

She lay in bed for and hour or to crying and drinking her smoothie but after a while her tears dried up and anger started to show through. She screamed into her pillow a couple times and threw a tissue box at her closet storage closet where things like old Barbie's and books that were childish but to good to through away went. The door swung open upon contact with the box of tissues. But that was not good enough for Miley. She chucked the remote at the closet to. It came in contact with the wall of stuff that was packed into the closet. A single cardboard box fell form the heap and landed face down on the floor with a loud crash. Some of the stuff on the top came out, papers mostly, and floated down onto the room.

Miley got up form her bed, curious as to what the box was. When she reached it she flipped to over, still not knowing what it was. She scooped up some of the papers that had flown out of it and read the top of the first one.

_February 16_

_Dear Diary,_

_JAKE ASKED ME OUT TODAY!!!!!!! Well technically we just kissed on the beach so now I am his girl friend. But he has to go away for 4 months which sucks but that's ok cause I will always love him and I would never cheat on him or leave him and I know he loves me so he would not either. I can't wait till he gets back, I swear…._

Miley stopped reading there, these were the diary entries from when she just had a crush on Jake, to when they were a couple, up until the phone call that pushed his coming back until 6 months.

This was "Jake's Box", the box of all the stuff that reminded her of Jake. She swore she would never open this box ever again or unless they were back together and getting married.

But here it was and here she was.

Opening the box.


	18. A blast to the past

Miley carefully lifted up the flaps of the box, they were flimsy and fell off in her hands.

She undid the string that used to tie the box together, her closet must leak because the box had some wet spots and was definitely falling apart. She reached inside and started looking through the contents.

First, there was a small box of hand written notes that had been written on notebook paper that had each been ripped out of the notebook. She smiled at the sight of them, they were the notes that Jake and she had always past back and forth in class when they were supposed to be taking notes or watching a documentary. She unfolded one to read it laughing to herself as she remembered how Jake had always written in a sharpy making his words bleed through and she had written in dainty cursive like script with a pen. He always told her how much he loved her handwriting because it was so neat and pretty.

----------------------

**Miley what are you doing this weekend. **

_Don't know, what did you have in mind._

**New episode of the Zombie High is being filmed want to come and watch. **

_Sure any special guests coming on this time._

**Yeah Hannah Montana I really want you to meet her, she helped me work up the courage to ask you out.**

_Ok, that's cool I will have to check with my dad to see if I can go._

_-_-------------------------

She remembered writing that note. Her heart had shaken at his last line. It was from the second time she had been a guest star on Zombie High as Zaranda Princess of the undead. She had to pretend that she had to go and visit her Aunt and turn him down. He was so upset when she didn't come. He had spilled his heart to Hannah Montana and she felt for him the entire time. But he did not know how much she missed spending time with him on set. Yeah she was there as Hannah Montana but that was different because Hannah wasn't his girlfriend Miley was so he did not act the same around her.

Miley skimmed through the rest of the notes quickly and reminisced about every day in class that she had had with Jake and all of the times they had planned using history and math class.

Next, she picked up the stuffed bear that he had won for her at the Carnival that came into town every fall. She had always loved going to the carnival with her dad. She loved all the rides, the lights, and all of the food. Her dad had always watched the tractor pulls and had let her go off on her own with Lilly. She and Lilly would always eat to much and then go and look ant all the farm animals that had been entered in the competitions, it always reminded her of home in Tennessee. She had had the most fun at this carnival though because she had been with Jake. She remembered it quite clearly.

-----------------------------

"Jake, you don't have to win it for me it's ok" Miley protested as she watched Jake try to knock the bottles over for the 7th time.

"No Miley, I want to win it for you" He told her and turned back to her game.

Miley sighed and leaned against the games booth. He had already spent 26 dollars trying to get the small dragon for her and even though he was a famous and money was not a problem she still felt bad.

"Jake, I am going to go get a pretzel. Ok?" She announced after another 15 minutes and 3 games.

"Yeah, yeah that's fine, I will meet you over there." He responded absentmindedly.

She shook her head and headed over to the pretzel stand and got in line.

"Yeah miss what could I get ya." The man working the pretzel stand almost yelled at her.

"Um… I'll have two pretzels, one with salt and one without and a diet coke" She said back to him.

"What size?" He asked

"Huh?" She asked, very confused

"Drink," he practically yelled at her

"Oh! A large please" She requested

He set the pretzels on the counter before filling a massive cup with coke.

"I asked for diet" She quietly reminded him.

He gave her a dirty look before tossing the drink in the sink and filling another cup with diet coke.

"Ya want cheese or mustard with that." he asked as he punched something into the small cash register.

"Two of each, please" She said taking out her wallet

He took all her purchases and put them in a "box" and pushed them toward her, "That will be…" He paused, "Thirty dollars"

"What!?" She practically screamed, "How is it thirty dollars?"

"Eight for each pretzel, which is sixteen, then its four dollars for a large drink which makes it twenty. Then each condiment is one dollar each which mean your total is 24 dollars and four dollars tax. Thirty dollars. Hand it over." He snarled in her face ripping the receipt off the register and putting it in front of her.

She eyed balled the receipt and then calmly took twenty eight dollars even out of her wallet and placed in on the counter. He reached for it but she kept her hand on top of it.

"Just so you know buddy, I am a 14 year old girl, which means I have been in school for nine years, a lot longer than you were. You think that just because I am a "ditzy" girl you can scam me you are wrong. 30 dollars my ass. Get a better cash register."

She grabbed her food with her free hand, pushed the money towards him grabbed her receipt and walked away.

She could hear him grumbling to himself. She found an open table and sat down at it and started eating. Soon Jake walked over and joined her carrying a large brown teddy bear with a bright red bow around his neck and button eyes and nose and a yarn smile. He was the cutest bear she had ever seen.

"Oh my gosh baby, what did you do?!" She exclaimed

"I finally won a game but because it took me thirty tries he let me have the bigger prize. He liked me a lot, I mean I would like me too cause he made seventy-five bucks off me."

"Seventy-five dollars, that's too much I will pay you back or something..." She started but he cut her off.

"Nah there is plenty more where it came from, no worries." He smiled at her and she smiled back.

--------------------------

Miley remembered the rest of that day, every one she had told the story to had been so proud of her for standing up to the "pretzel guy" as he had came to be called. Her dad used her to tell Jackson that not every girl is just a body but that they actually had brains. It was truly a scary conversation to sit in on. Everyone else had praised her and used her as a role model for a while as how you should always stand up for yourself and never let anyone take advantage of you just because they are too stupid to know that you are smarter than you look.

But Jake was the one that had been the most proud of her and she would always love him for that. The bear would always remind her of when she beat a scammer at his own game and the best carnival of her life.

Miley hugged the bear and set it aside.

The next item she picked up was her diary that she had kept since they had started going out. She kept the key to the diary in a small box that had a combination. She hadn't wanted anyone to ever read the diary so she took the box that her Aunt had given her for Christmas when she was five, reset the combo and used it to store the key. She remembered the day she was putting the box together and decided to use the box.

------------------------------

She had wanted the combo to be Jake's name but there were only 3 numbers in the combination so this is what she did. She just counted off which number letter in the alphabet each letter of his name was.

So, **J** is10, **A **is1, **K** is 11, **E** is 5,** R** is 18, **Y **is 25, **A** is 1, and **N** is 14. Then she added all the numbers together, 10 plus 1 plus 11 plus 5 plus 18 plus 25 plus 1 plus 14 equals 85.

Then she did her name, **M** is 13,** I** is 9, **L** is 12, **E **is 5, **Y** is 25, **S** is 19, **T** is 20, **E **is 5, **W **is 22, **A **is 1, **R** is 18, and **T** is 20. Then she added those together, 13 plus 9 plus 12 plus 5 plus 25 plus 19 plus 20 plus 5 plus 22 plus 1 plus 18 plus 20 equals 169.

Then she did love, **L** is 12, **O** is 15, **V** is 21, and **E** is 5. She added those together, 12 plus 15 plus 21 plus 5 equals 53.

She then added every single total together, 85 plus 169 plus 53 equals 307.

That was the combo. 3, 0, 7. Jake plus Miley equals Love. It was that simple for her.

-----------------------

She opened the box using her special combo took out the key. It was bright purple with teal stars on it to match the diary which was teal and had purple stars running down the front near the spine.

The used the key to open the diary which was only about half full but she would never write anything else in it but stuff about her and Jake being together.

She flipped through it a little before finding a random page to read.

_Dear Diary,_

_Ya, know I really need to stop using the word diary it is starting to sound like I am 5 and writing in my first diary that I have to secretly hid form my brother under my mattress but he always ends up finding it. Even though I have a brother I always carry my key with me so him reading this is not a problem. Anyway, I decided to stop putting a date on my journal entries because this journal is about me and Jake and any time with Jake is priceless and does not need to be remembered as a certain time but just remembered as that it happened. _

_Today Jake and I spent the day at the beach. He told me this morning to wear a bathing suit but wear comfortable but sturdy clothes over it and sneakers. I wore my favorite green, blue and pink one piece with a tank top and jean capris over it. When I met Jake at the beach he had two back packs with him. We ended up hiking up the hill the river that feeds into the ocean comes from. We hiked all the way to the top which took us about 2 and a half hours because it was very rocky so we rested a lot. Once we got to the top I got to know what was in the backpacks. Jake had made a picnic lunch for the two of us all by himself (he confessed his mom helped him a little but I like to pretend he made it himself). He made two ham and cheese sandwiches and had brought two packages of mayonnaise to put on them. He also brought Cheetos, a nectarine for me, an apple for him and a whole package of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies (My favorite). He had cans of diet coke for us to drink and we spent a good hour enjoying our lunch. _

_After lunch, he showed me something he had discovered. If you go down the other side of the hill for only about 2 minutes you then cut through some bushes and come to a small clearing right at the edge of the hill. It drops off for about eight feet and then it is just water at the bottom. Very, very clear water. We took turn jumping off the cliff and into the water, which turned out to be about seven and a half feet deep, perfect for diving. He showed me his diving skills (which I have to tell you were limited) and I showed him mine. I even managed to do a perfect swan dive, though I only did it once it was amazing. We jumped off together a couple times and he almost made me drown by landing on my head (we stopped after that). It was the perfect day. I don't know what I would do with out Jake Diary, he is leaving in three days and then I won't see him for 4 months. It will be torture what will I do? Maybe I will figure it out over the next few days. Until then_

_Miley_

-----------------

Miley closed the tiny book and leaned against her closet. The entry had taken up five pages, her longest one ever. It had been the perfect day just as she had said. She had never been happier. But now… she did not know.

Miley reached back into the box. She pulled a framed picture of her and Jake. It was in a clear frame and on one sod was a picture of her and Jake but on the other side was a picture of Jake and Hannah Montana. When Jake had first left Miley had been a wreak and had carried the picture around school with her. Every one had asked her why she had a picture of Hannah Montana and Jake but she just told them that they were the two most important pictures to her and why did they care. Everyone had looked at her as if she was crazy and walked away. She had not cared.

Now she placed the picture neatly on top of the closed diary and went back to the box.

It was almost empty now, just a couple items left. One of them she had to stand up to pull it out and not have it drag on the ground. It was the dress she had worn at the after party on the night Jake's movie, _The Snowy Mountain, _which he starred in as a young, teenage boy named Alex. She had been invited by him to the premier but because she had had a concert that night. That was also the night she had told Jake she was Hannah Montana and also the night before he had left. She remembered it all to well.

-------------------

"Miley come on I really want you to come with me." Jake wined following Miley out of the school

"Jake I really want to come to but my Aunt is coming into town so I have to eat dinner with her. She always goes to bed really early so my dad said I could come to the after party." Miley said trying to stay calm as they started walking home.

"But Miley, you always are dong something with your Aunt, can't you blow her off just once." He kept wineing

"No Jake, my Aunt really looks forward to seeing me so I can't just leave. She wouldn't understand" She retorted.

"Fine, then I will come and drag you away. She would understand then."

"NO!" She stopped walking and he stopped short behind her, "You cannot do that, you cannot… under any circumstances… come over… understand?"

He looked shaken, "Yeah, I guess so, but why?"

She sighed, "Oh, your gunna think I'm crazy."

--------------

She had told him she was Hannah Montana right then and there. He had thought she was crazy at first….. until she showed him the Hannah Closet, the recording contracts, the script from the Zombie High Episode that he had signed, and he asked her some questions about some of the stuff he had spilled to Hannah Montana about her. She got every question right.

He had believed her and hadn't hated her. She loved him even more.

-----------------

"Lilly, you have to get over here, I told Jake I was Hannah Montana and now I am going to one of the after parties after his movie premiers," Miley said into the answering machine, "Come over at seven, the party is at nine thirty and I want you to help me get ready, if you are not here then I will come and hunt you down."

Lilly was over at six thirty and she helped Miley get ready. That after noon Miley had gone to the Mall and bought herself a very nice dress to walk down the red carpet with Jake in. It was a green color, olive to be exact and showed off her thin figure ever nicely. She accented the green color with all gold accessories, shoes, purse and jewelry. Lilly helped do her hair and makeup. At nine o'clock Lilly waved to her from her front porch as she waved from the back window of the Limo. They stopped briefly at the entrance to where the movie had premiered to pick up Jake.

"Hey Miley" He aid after he got in the limo.

"Hey." She kissed him and he settled back into one of the seats.

"How was…um….dinner with your aunt?" He asked her smiling

"It was great, she really enjoyed it." She replied smiling back.

"I'm glad…so, I guess your Aunt won't be visiting as much as she used to." He said laughing slightly.

"Hey!" she said, "I needed an excuse ok and that was all I could come up with."

'It's ok, I think I will be able to forgive you…" He grinned as he spoke

She hit him lightly on the arm

"All right, all right…you're forgiven." He said

She grinned back at him as they pulled up to the entrance to the after party.

-----------------------

Miley remembered the rest of that night. Jake got to show her off to all of his celebrity friends and she got to pretend to not know some people who she had really know for many years. She almost slipped up a couple times.

Miley hung up the dress and took the shoes and purse out the box that went with it and put them aside too.

The box was nearly empty now.

She reached down and took another item out of it.

It was a flat velvet box that, from its appearance, could only hold jewelry. It did. It held a silver locket that Jake had gotten her for Christmas. That Christmas was her favorite one so far. Jake's parents were away so he had had Christmas with her.

------------------------

"Jake, stop, get that out of my face." Miley said, pushing the small handheld video camera away.

"Aw come on Miley, I need to document this moment" He retorted

"Yeah well document it some where else."

He sighed and retreated to the far side of the room turning the video camera back on.

It was Christmas Eve and Lilly, Oliver and their Families were both over Miley's house for their annual party. The adults were out on the screened in and heated porch and the kids were all in the living room just hanging out. Miley was curled up on the couch in her pajamas with a blanket around her and a cup of hot chocolate in her hand. Lilly and Oliver were both trying to control their younger sibling and get them ready to watch a Christmas movie while Jackson was in his room being non-social and Jake was attempting to use the video camera.

"Who wants to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas?" Lilly yelled out

"No." all three of the younger children yelled in unison as they ran out of the room.

Lilly and Oliver sprinted after them.

Miley sipped her hot coca. She heard Jake put down the video camera and com up behind her. He leaned down and kissed her under the ear. One of his arms encircled her in an awkward one armed hug as he kept kissing her. She turned her head so that their lips met and he put his other arm down in front of her. He stopped kissing her and looked down into her lap. Her eyes followed his. She saw a blue velvet box wrapped in a red ribbon and topped with a bow.

"Oh, Jake you know I can't open it until tomorrow." She protested

"Well I have something else for you tomorrow; this is for now when no one else is here." He kissed her on the temple as she touched the package.

"I can't Jake…" She started but he cut her off.

"Just do it…"

---------------------

She had opened it then. She had loved it; it had a picture of him and her on the inside. She had never taken it off until the day she started going out with Oliver.

She set it aside and pulled out the last item in the box, the present that he had given her the next morning.

It was a movie that he had made for her. It was about the both of them, he had gone to her dad and gotten some home video's form him where she had not been particularly happy. Like at her second birthday party when the clown came and squirted her in the face with water multiple times. Then he cut the copies of the video down to just the segment where she had been crying. He then took video of him crying and put the two together. These parts were about how they were sad when they were apart. Then he took video of them together and that was about how with them together they were a lot happier. That part was longer because it was recent video that he had filmed of stuff they had done together and some T.V footage of them at some celebrity events as Miley and Jake not as Jake and Hannah.

This was Miley's favorite video she owned but she had put it way because she was not with him anymore and yet she was plenty happy. Or was she?

She put the DVD aside and looked around at all of the things that held feelings for her, feelings about Jake and feelings about life that had made her happy. But now she had Oliver and she was happy with him. Right?

She sat on top of her bed and thought about her love life and how complicated and strange it was.

"Miley?" Her dad asked as he knocked on the door.

"Yeah dad?" She responded

"Phone for you" He told her

"Oh! Ok thanks" She said reaching across her bed o pick up the phone, she had not even heard it ring.

"Hello?" She asked as she heard her dad hang up on the other phone.

"Hey Miley, it's Jake, I was just wondering how you were doing."

"Jake, why the hell are you calling me?!!" She half yelled

"Cause I want to talk you." He said

"Well I don't give a damn why you called." She retorted

Suddenly the phone beeped in her ear indicating an incoming call.

"I'm sorry Jake but my boyfriend is calling me and I would like to talk to him."

"Why are you going out with him anyway? He is a loser." He asked very rudely

"That is none of your business and he is not a loser, he is my boyfriend, something you failed to be." With that she hung up on him and answered Oliver's call.

"Hey Oliver." She said starting to throw each of the items from the box back into the box.

"Hey….what's wrong."

"Oh, nothing, it's just that jerk Jake called me."

"What! He called you. Was he harassing you?"

"Just about, he called you a loser and said he wanted to talk to me." She told him

"He is the one that is the loser Miley. Just don't talk to him again, he doesn't deserve your attention." He told her

"Your right, I should just ignore him. If he had really wanted to talk to me he would have done months ago." She shoved the box under her bed causing the side to split open.

"I have to go to dinner now. Are you sure you are going to be ok?"

"Yeah Oliver I will be alright. I just have to forget about him."

"Alright, I will talk to you later." He said

"Bye" She said and hung up the phone.

She kicked the box all the way under the bed, turned her back on it, and walked out of her room.

Oliver had been right, Jake did not deserve her attention and if he really had wanted to talk to her and keep her as his girlfriend he would have tried months ago. It was all his loss and she should just keep living her, very happy life, and forget about him.

-----------------------

A/N Hey everyone, I know that I haven't gotten around to updating that much but this chapter and the last one are my two favorite so far. I truly enjoyed writing the shouting match between Miley and Jake last chapter. It was so much fun. I am hoping to get ninety reviews total. Which, actually, is only eight more reviews. I am very confident that I can get there. You guys are all awesome, thank you to everyone who has this story in their favorites or under an alert. Plus thank you to everyone who has reviewed. You guys rock.


	19. Taking a beating

For the rest of the month of November Jake continued to harass Miley, physically and verbally. He told her to leave Oliver and come to him. Multiple times he had tried to drag her away from the school, or away from Oliver. Oliver got into a couple fights with him and came out with a couple bloody noses and a black eye. Miley and Lilly had both had there share of bruises as well. It made it hard for Miley to be Hannah, so she had to wear lots of long sleeves and pants so her fans weren't concerned. Both Oliver and Jake had been suspended many, many times.

At first every student thought there was a very odd love triangle going on. Everyone at school was just so caught up about the fact that Miley would blow Jake off and go out with Oliver instead, they just didn't want to believe something that was supposed to be rational. But during an assembly when both Oliver and Jake weren't there the principal told the entire school what was going on and Miley spoke through shaky tears to everybody about what was really going on. Soon the entire student body had secretly turned on Jake and they would make sure that Miley had at least 4 people around her at one time.

Then, in December, Oliver asked Miley and Lilly if them and their families would like to go with his family to a trip to Disneyland during Winter break. It was Oliver's mistake really, he had decided to ask them during school instead of after when noone was around to overhear. But he did tell them in school and soon the word got out and the truth was twisted. First people just thought that Oliver and Miley were going by themselves then it turned to they were moving to somewhere around the Disney area. Then it changed to that they were getting married and moving somewhere around the Disney area then that Miley had cancer, or something strange like that and had to move out of the country. Finally it settled at Miley and Oliver were getting married and moving to Hawaii. After a while no one even knew how the rumor had started or what the truth was supposed to be.

Somehow the fact that Lilly was even going was forgotten completely. Lilly did not care that noone thought she was involved cause she knew she was.

"Oliver have you heard what people have been saying?" Miley asked his as they walked to their last period class.

"Yeah, it's absurd, why would someone think that we were moving, and by ourselves to," He said loudly

"Yeah, and getting married. I mean right now? At 15 ...that's crazy." Miley said

"So it's true?" a girl asked

"NO." They both told her loudly.

The girl looked offended then walked away, muttering under her breath.

Miley and Oliver went into their class and tried to ignore the gossip because most of it was stupid. The teachers all knew the truth because once they had heard the rumor they actually asked Miley and Oliver what was going on and they told them the truth.

On the way out of the school that afternoon they started talking about their trip because it was only a couple weeks away and they were all looking forward to leaving the crazy school. When they were about a fourth of the way to Miley's house Jake approached them.

"Jake leave." Oliver said through gritted teeth.

"I just wanted to know is it was true that you and Miley were getting married and moving to Hawaii." He said looking mad

"No, we are moving to Romania." Oliver said without thinking

Miley and Lilly gasped.

"What did you say." Jake said

"You heard me." Oliver spat back

Oliver turned, grabbed Miley by the arm and walked away pushing Lilly along in front of him. Jake followed behind him, grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, pushed Miley away and punched him in the face. Miley stumbled back shocked. She backed into Lilly and they both fell on to the ground.

"NO." Miley and Lilly both screamed struggling to get up.

Oliver collapsed to the ground as Jake kept beating him up. Once he was on the ground Jake kick him in the side and the head. He just was going crazy using his hands and his feet. He had a wild look in his eye that showed that he would stop at nothing until he got what he wanted.

Miley and Lilly both attempted to pull Jake from Oliver. They had both fought each other before but this was the worst. There was a large gash running from right above Oliver's ear to the corner of his eye. His eye was already turning black and blue and the gash was gushing blood staining the sidewalk a brilliant red.

Jake stopped and stood above Oliver, his foot on his chest, "Come on Miley how could you want to be with a guy who does not even fight back?"

"Jake, why would I want to be with a guy who beats up other guys just because he has what they want?" Miley said.

Jake studied her face for a minute, confused. Then his expression turned angry and he pushed off Oliver's chest and started sprinting away. Miley watched as a couple kids who were also walking home and saw the fight ran after Jake to try and stop him. They caught up with him and one of them tackled him to the ground. It took three guys to get him to lie still. They struggled to hold him down so that he would not get away.

Miley looked back down at Oliver as he groaned and turned onto his side, coughing up blood, his face strained.

Miley dropped to the ground next to Lilly who was already on her cell phone with the police department. The knees of Miley's jeans started soaking up the blood. She took no notice as she gently lifted his head up into her lap. He looked at her and attempted to smile. She smiled back at him. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something.

"Shhhh," She said to him

Lilly's voice echoed in Miley's head and she barely made out what she was saying.

"…..ambulance…. yes…..tons of blood……they got him…..alright…..please hurry!"

Miley shook her head to clear it of the fog.

"They're on their way." Lilly said hanging up the phone and stroking Oliver's arm.

"Oh Oliver," Miley whispered, her face in his hair starting to cry, "Hang on, it'll be ok…it'll be ok."


	20. A long list

**A/N- Hey guys…..sorry for not updating in a very, very long time but I had a spell of writers block….on **_**all**_** of my stories. It stunk. I up dated now with this really, really short thing. Hopefully I am now on a roll and can spit out some more ideas to put in writing. Expect a chapter on Saturday and if there isn't one I give you permission to hunt me down and kill me. Just Kidding!**

MILEY'S POV:

I sat in the chair of the waiting room and slid down until my but was almost falling off the chair. I head rested on the back of the chair and closed my eyes.

"Miles? You ok?" Lilly asked me as she walked up and handed me a drink

"Huh? Oh… yeah, I guess so." I answered, my head felt like it was spinning and I was definitely lying. I was _not_ ok. I just witnessed my boyfriend getting beaten up by my crazy ex. It had been horrible and right at this moment all I felt like doing was having a good cry. But I couldn't. I just felt like I couldn't.

"I talked to the doctor." Lilly said turning towards me

"Yeah, what did he say?" I asked finally sipping the cool liquid hesitantly. It tasted like grape juice but I was not too sure, but it tasted ok so I took a bigger sip.

"He is still in surgery and…will probably be there a while longer. He said that we should go home and they will call us when he wakes up."

I looked up from the spot I had been staring at on the floor. I stared hard right into Lilly's eyes trying to send her a message mentally.

Lilly stood back up, "That's what I thought…. I am going to call your dad…let him know we are staying."

I sat back again into the chair and sighed as Lilly walked off, cell phone in hand. I studied the floor. It was strange to me how everyone in a hospital was always so calm and happy. I reminded me of Disney World. Ya know everywhere you go someone always tells you "Have a magical day" and they smile way to big and are way to chipper for it to be normal. I could never work there.

"He said he will stop by to bring us some stuff but we are not allowed to stay for over 32 hours at a time." Lilly told me walking back. I nodded to show that I understood and she just sat down beside me.

About ten minutes later a very official looking doctor headed towards us, dressed in scrubs a clipboard in his hand.

"Mrs. Oken?" He asked me

"Oh no I'm just his girlfriend." I corrected him.

"Oh well I am sorry, I cannot release this information to you then. Are his parents here?"

I stopped when he had said that. Oliver had never liked discussing his parents. "Well…." I started. I had never like it either.

Lilly took over for me, "His mother died multiple years ago and his father is not in the picture anymore and refused to come. He lives with his aunt but she is confined to her wheel chair and cannot get here. Miley's father went to court when his mother died and although his aunt got temporary custody Miley's dad got power of attorney. He is still fighting for long term custody. Her dad is on his way."

"Ah, well then I will just wait until he gets here." The doctor said as he turned and started walking away.

"WAIT!" I yelled, he stopped and turned around. Tears came to my eyes, "You have to tell me what is wrong with him. Please. I need to know. It was all my fault he got beaten up and I need to know if he is going to be ok."

The doctors face softened, "I am sorry, hospital rules state that I can't release information to anyone but a family member," He hesitated, "But just between us," He leaned in close to me, "He will be ok. It will take a while but eventually…..he will be ok."

"Thanks" I whispered in his ear.

He smiled at me and turned away. I went back and sat back down in the small, blue, and very tacky, plastic hospital waiting room chair.

I shivered, the hospital had all of a sudden become very cold and I was ready for my dad to get here so that his power of attorney could be put to action and I would get more information. I huddled in my little blue chair and cried, just wanting it all to be over.

--------------------------------

"Miles?"

I heard the voice from a far. It kept calling my name. I waved my hand in front of me to see if I could hit what ever was disturbing my sleep.

"Miley, come on wake up."

I opened my eyes and squinted because of the bright whiteness of the hospital. I sat up and realized that I had been lying across three or four of the stupid plastic chairs. My dad was standing in front of me. I jumped up and gave him a hug, he squeezed me back.

"Dad, you have to find out what is going on with Oliver. The doctor would not tell me anything." I told him franticly.

"Miles, I already talked to him. He told me everything. It's going to be ok."

I looked at him in disbelief, "Do you mean "ok" by I am going to be ok and that I should calm down or "ok" by that Oliver is going to be ok. You really need to distinguish."

He took me by the arm and sat me back down, taking the seat right next to me.

"Miley," He told me, "You need to not say anything until I tell you everything. You can't freak out or the doctor told me that you could have a panic attack and that is not something that should happen right now," I nodded and he continued, "The doctor said that Oliver is in very, very bad condition. He just got out of surgery but is still under the sedative. He was in surgery for about 11 hours. Jake did a lot of damage Miley. It does not look good."

I pit formed in my stomach and I closed my eyes, "Wha- what was actually wrong with him…I mean….what happened." I asked shakily.

My dad pulled me into another hug and gripped me tightly.

"Well….," He riffled in his pocket and dug a tiny piece of paper out, "The doctor wrote everything down, that's everything." He told me handing me the piece of paper.

I unfolded it slowly. There was a lot of writing on it. I closed my eyes and took a long deep breath to calm my nerves before starting to read.

1. Multiple broken ribs. One that punctured a lung and another, the gallbladder.

2. Large gash along head that grazed multiple nerved and arteries.

3. Cracked jaw along the side. Will not impact speech long term.

4. Because of the punctured lung there was blood in the lungs that he coughed up tearing up the inside of the esophagus. Not life threatening but still bad.

5. A grade three concussion on the left side of the brain.

6. He has a closed fracture but we had to put three pins in his arm.

I lowered my eyes, "Will he live?"

My dad sighed, "He is still in a medical induced coma. We won't know for a while, at least a week, maybe more."

"Ok." I whispered.

My dad let out a little laugh, "I guess your trip to Disney is canceled huh?"

I looked at him and he was smiling a little. I knew he was trying to lift my spirits so I smiled a little but it definitely was not what I felt on the inside. Lilly came over from where she had sat after she had come out of the bathroom in the middle of our conversation. She sat down next to me a pulled me into a hug. We cried together.


	21. Being home

"Oliver? Oliver?"

I groaned inwardly. My head felt like it was exploding, or about to explode, or had already exploded. Maybe even a mixture of the three. All I knew was that it hurt and I could see a bright light shining through my eyelids and I decided that opening my eyes was not an option. The person's voice kept calling my name and I felt the urge to reach out and slap them. But….my arm didn't move when I lifted it. Strange. That had never happened to me before.

"Oliver?"

I attempted to open my mouth but it wouldn't budge. _Great_, I thought, _I have lock jaw and am dieing, how fun. _I tried to make any noise at all but found that my vocals were obstructed by a large breathing tube that covered my mouth and went down my throat.

"Oo, oo, I think he's awake." The voice continued on speaking to someone else

Of course I'm awake you idiot, I told myself. I cracked open one eye and light flooded in my cornea. Bad idea…I shut my eye again.

"Oh, oh, his eye twitched. I saw it."

I groaned inwardly again. Whoever this person was they were very obnoxious and needed to go away. I was starting to wake up more and I felt…..things. It was not fun. My chest felt like I had been punctured by a million, trillion knives. My breathing was ragged and I felt like I could not control it. Probably cause I have a breathing tube. Duh. My bad. My arm that I had tried to lift now felt as though it had been separated from my body and then put back in place very poorly. I wish I could have taken some deep breaths right then cause it was painful and I wanted it to go away. I felt a tear slip down my face and the annoying person just had to tell the world I was crying. I heard a couple of sighs of sympathy. I cringed, I hate receiving sympathy cause I never like having people feel bad for me and treat me like a baby.

Right then someone came in and kicked everyone out. I was relieved. The man, who I figured out was a doctor, talked to me and told me the things he was going to be doing. It made me feel safer. He poked and prodded at me a little. Then he seemed to dim the lights in the rooms or something because the lights weren't shinning through my eyelids anymore.

"Oliver, you can open your eyes, there is no more light."

I did as he told and found that the only light was a small light coming from a lamp in the corner of the room. The doctor talked to me more and more. asking me questions about how different parts of me feel and if I felt any pressure behind my eyes and things like that. Some of the stuff was random but he did help me understand what had happened. I remembered getting punched in the face and then the really hard concrete ground. The last thing I remember is Miley stroking my hair and hearing Lilly talking to people about me.

"Oliver? Are you ready to see some visitors?"

I nodded at the doctor but waved him over and gestured at him. He understood and handed me a piece of paper and a pen. I jotted something down quickly and handed it to him. He smiled, nodded and left.

I layed there waiting and started thinking about what I wanted to say. The door opened slowly and I braced myself.

Miley entered and closed the door behind her before walking towards me with a big smile on her face. She looked so happy to see me that I just wished that I could smile back at her. She took my hand and gave it a squeeze. I squeezed back and she leaned down and gave me a very awkward hug but just the feeling of her made me happy.

"Oliver," She said quietly, "Oliver I am so sorry." She started crying.

I yelled at myself inwardly. My girlfriend was crying and I could not talk. It sucked, it wasn't her fault but she was blaming herself for it and I could not tell her otherwise.

I grabbed her hand with my good one and she looked up at me. I shook me head. "But it is." she said. I shook my head again.

"Oh yeah, sorry you cant talk." She smiled slightly, "We were all worried about you, we all thought he had killed you. But there is good news. Lilly said that a bunch of boys tackled him and held him down until the police got there. They arrested him and he is going to trial for attempted murder. My dad said the charge might change and all he might get is community service and be forced to go to a therapist. But as long as something happens to him I am happy. Oh yeah, my dad also filed for a restraining order that forces Jake to stay a certain length away from all three of us. You me and Lilly I mean."

I smiled inwardly, this sounded amazing, I was never really afraid of Jake. I just hated him for being so bad to Miley. But after he beat me up it did make me scared of him cause it showed me what he could do. Thank god for Miley's dad and the restraining order idea. Maybe then he will leave us alone of good.

Everyone else started coming in then and talking to me, it overwhelmed me a little but Miley and Lilly were on either side of me the entire time so I felt safer. I felt at home.

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A/N- I don't really like this chapter but I decided that it was time to review. It isn't even 1,000 words but I hope you like it anyway. Please review!


	22. One big, creepy coincidence

I was released from the hospital 6 months ago and life is finally starting to go back to almost normal. I ended up being in the dang hospital for a total of 5 days and had gotten sick of it very fast. But that's what everyone says isn't it. I now know that all of those people were not lying, it really does suck. Not only is it boring but the food is totally gross. I had made Miley sneak me in some real food and it saved me from nearly going crazy.

Actually Miley was my lifesaver, she came to the hospital everyday and sat and talked to me the entire afternoon until I made her bring her homework so that she doesn't flunk out. Now she brings work for me and we do it together. It really had helped us bond and become closer to each other.

As for Jake, they managed to get him a court date really fast and he was charged for attempted for murder. They were going to ease the charge us but when he noticed that Miley was in the audience he jumped up and yelled to the entire room that he had wanted to rid of Oliver so that he could have the love of his life back. Then he charged at Miley and had to be restrained. I know, a little radical, Miley and I think he is just putting on an act to get attention. So, they charged him and sent him to juvi. He is going to be there until he is 18 and then he will be moved to the state prison for 10 to 20 years. Oh yeah….Miley's dad also got the restraining order. It will be put into place after he is released. I definitely feel safer.

It took me three months to be able to use my arm again. Jake had really done a job on it. He almost shattered the bones but they managed to save them. As for my jaw and head…that's another story. I'll live though.

School had ended and it was summer again. The three of us could not believe that in the fall we would be juniors. We were finally upper classmen. It was unbelievable that we had been in school for 10 years already and we already had two more to go. Of course there is collage but that's later.

The first day of school started off feeling like we never even had summer. I already had homework and a mini project that was due the next week. Miley was in about half of my classes and Lilly was only in one but it was science so we were always talking over the labs that we had to do.

"Oliver do you need some help?" Miley asked me

I was trying to shove my books into my locker one handed, "Yeah that would be great."

She reached over and straightened out my math book and took my history book out of my arms so that I could put the other stuff away.

"So what are you doing tonight?" She asked shutting my locker.

"Umm…well….I was thinking th-"

I got cut off by Lilly running up, "Hey you guys, how much homework did you get in Carlson's class?"

Miley made a face…, "I have to write a paragraph on Mitosis and do the chapter 4 vocab"

"Me too….," Lilly said, "D'ya wanna do it together?"

"Sure… how about you Oliver?"

I turned to her, "Well, I have physical therapy at 3:30 but I can meet at your house around 5 and then we could go to Pepe's for dinner"

Lilly nodded, "That sounds like a good plan, I was also thinking Pepe's, for some reason I have had a really bad craving for pizza."

Miley smiled, "It's a plan!"

MILEY'S POV:

When I got home I went straight up to my room. Lately I haven't felt like talking to anybody. After Oliver left the hospital I have felt like my life was complete. That doesn't make much sense but after Oliver survived the beating Jake gave him everyone had been treating him like a hero and I just want him to myself for a minute. We haven't even had a real talk since… well…. a long time.

"Miles?

"Yeah dad?"

"Your phone's been ringing, you left it on the counter." He threw it at me

"Thanks dad."

"No problem bud."

I looked at my missed calls, 3 from Lilly…great. I hit redial and listen to her ringback tone for a while.

"Miley," She answered, "I am so glad you called me back."

"No problem, what's up?" I asked laying down on my bed.

"I've been thinking, ever since Oliver was in the hospital you haven't even had time with him just by yourself. So tonight I going out with my mom so that you two can have a night alone, also…."

I zoned out….wait what? I thought to myself. How did she know? I thought about that 5 minutes ago. Either she read my mind or this is just a really big, creepy coincidence.


End file.
